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HISTORIC AMERICANS 



THE LIFE OF 

William McKinley 

TWENTY-FIFTH PRESIDENT OF THE 
UNITED STATES 1897-1901 



WITH A COMPLETE CHRONOLOGY OF 
HIS LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES 



^'His Christian Life and Patriotic Work Tower Higher 
than any Monument to His Memory^ 



By 

EDWARD T ROE, LL.B. 



ILLUSTRATED WITH HALF-TONE ENGRAVINGS 
AND TEXT ETCHINGS 



Copyrighted, 1901, by Wm. H. Lee 
Copyrighted, 1913, by Wm- H. Lee 




LAIRD & LEE, PUBLISHERS 




THE McKINLEY HOME, AT CANTON, OHIO. 

,fr,rJ.An46t>5:j 



CONTENTS 



Chapter Page 

I. ' A Nation's Grief 9 

II. Ancestry and Boyhood 13 

III. Service as a Soldier. . .- 20 

IV. Return to Civil Life 29 

V. Elected to Congress 36 

VI. Elected Governor of Ohio 43 

VII. In the National Conventions 51 

VIII. Nominated and Elected President 58 

IX. President of the United States 68 

X. Graphic Description of the War 78 

XI. Our New Possessions 109 

XII. Masterly Diplomacy in International 

Affairs 113 

XIII. Policy of National Expansion 118 

XIV. Tributes to Lincoln and Garfield 122 

XV. Personal Characteristics •. . . . 129 

XVI. Reciprocity Speech at Buffalo 139 

XVII. President McKinley Assassinated 151 

XVIII. The President's Fight for Life 157 

XIX. Eulogies of McKinley 167 

XX. Chronology of McKinley's Life Work.. . . 174 

' APPENDIX 

The Presidents and Vice-Presidents in their order 192 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



HALF-TONE ENGRAVINGS 
Portrait of Wm. McKinley, .... Fi-ontisfiece 

PAGE 

The McKinley Family and Canton Home, . . 6 
Ancestral Home of the McKinleys at Dervock, 

County Antrim, Ireland, 12 

Coleraine Market Place, Ireland, 31 

Another View of the Same, 32 

House Where McKinley Was Born, 50 

McKinley Monument, 173 

ETCHINGS 

Page 

McKinley, i8 years of age i8 

Lieutenant McKinley, 1863 24 

Soldiers in Camp 28 

McKinley as Law Student, 1865 30 

Representative McKinley, 1876 38 

Chairman McKinley of Committee on Ways and 

Means 40 

Governor McKinley, 1891 48 

Gov. McKinley Pleads for Protection 54 

The White House 67 

McKinley on his Farm 112 

Abraham Lincoln 123 

James A. Garfield 126 

Esplanade, Pan-American Exposition 140 

McKinley Speaking at Buffalo : 142 

Temple of Music at the Exposition 152 

Dr. M. D. Mann 158 

Suffering Cubans 191 



PREFACE 

A truthful record of a great man's life is the 
noblest tribute that can be paid to his memory, 
and a priceless treasure to his fellow men. 

The character of WILLIAM McKINLEY, and 
the magnificent foundation he laid for future 
national development, will secure for him the ever- 
lasting love and gratitude of his countrymen, 
while the expressions of deepest sympathy from 
all the civilized nations testify to the universal 
respect and admiration for America's ideal states- 
man. 

" The world was witness to his deeds, 
The world proclaims his glory." 

This biography has been prepared with diligent 
care by Mr. E. T. Roe, one of Mr. McKinley's 
classmates at the Albany Law School. It has 
been the aim to impress upon the youth of our 
(Country the grand and noble lessons contained in 
the late President's gracious kindliness, high moral 
courage and exalted patriotism. 

That this volume may prove a fitting testimonial 
of the nation's love for the departed chief, and that 
it may find its place in every library, is the sincere 
wish of 

THE PUBLISHERS. 



Life-work of William McKinley 



CHAPTER I 



A NATION'S GRIEF 

When the news was flashed over the land "President 
McKinley is dead," the pulse of the nation stood still. 
Every breeze from every point of the compass was 
laden with a sigh of sorrow. In every city, town and 
hamlet throughout this great republic there were mani- 
festations of a profound and universal sense of bereave- 
ment. The national heart was touched, the people 
were desolate. Every true American, whether rich or 
poor, black or white, old or young, was weighed down 
with a sense of personal affliction. 

And from the nations beyond the seas. Christian 
and pagan alike, came messages of sympathizing sor- 
row. The people of every land seemed to feel that 
the world had lost a tried and trusted friend. 

What was there in the life or character of William 
McKinley that his death should cause so general an 
emotion of sorrow? Principally, it was his exalted 
goodness — a disposition to be governed by the golden 

9 



10 Life-work of William McKinley 

rule in his dealings with individuals and with nations 
It is for McKinley the man rather than McKmley the 
statesman that the world was clad in mourning. It is 
as a man of the noblest personal qualities and of the 
finest domestic traits that he will be most generally 
remembered. 

In its appreciation of William McKinley the nation 
is undivided. One harmonious note of praise for the 
dead President went up from the press of every sec- 
tion of the country. The love and esteem in which he 
was held in the South is evident in every word uttered 
by the Southern editors. They all dwell upon the 
virtues of the man, and in no instance do they find it 
necessary to qualify the statement. To McKinley 
the man, McKinley the President, is given the full 
measure of credit for having done more for the South 
and its people than any President in history. 

Some of the policies, questioned at the outset, now 
that they have achieved the results he aimed at, are 
admitted by the South to have been conceived and 
executed in the unselfish spirit of love for all the 
people alike, which was our beloved President's 
strongest virtue. A completely unified country was 
the controlling political aspiration of his life, and 
became the key-note of his administration. It was 
the dominant note in all his public utterances and the 
animating motive of many of his official acts. Before 
his nomination for the Presidency he had expressed 
to friends and associates the earnest desire that he 
might be the instrument for binding together the North 
and South in closer ties of national fellowship and 
loyalty. 

To realize this ambition the President was happily 



A Nation's Grief ^^ 

aided at an opportune moment in our national exist- 
ence by the fortunes of war — a war resulting from 
intervention in behalf of an oppressed people, under 
the yoke of foreign despotism, in our own hemisphere. 
The grizzled warriors of the blue and the gray sprang 
to arms under the same flag to lead the young volun- 
teers of the North and South against a common foe. 
The spectacle was one of the most inspiring in history. 
Sectional rancor was buried with brave hearts in the 
soil of Santiago and El Caney. 

Is it too much to say that history will regard the 
complete reconciliation of the North and South as the 
crowning achievement of the McKinley administra- 
tion? Before him we had a Union in name, to-day we 
have a Union in national fealty and devotion to the 
flag. 

But the bugle call to arms was not to be the only 
unifying influence in drawing the two sections 
together. No man before Major McKinley ever 
preached so eloquently the doctrine of commercial 
and industrial unity. His voice was lifted for that 
union that recognizes a common destiny for all sec- 
tions of the republic. He was the South's champion, 
the advocate of her peerless resources, he believed in 
the industrial future of the South. 

For this the South loved him. No President was 
ever greeted with such manifestations of popular 
esteem in the South. His famous trip to California 
through the Southern states was made a continuous 
ovation, all party distinctions being completely 
ignored in the popular desire to do him honor. For 
this work of completely unifying the nation his coun- 
trymen will ever hold him in affectionate regard. 



CHAPTER II 

ANCESTRY AND BOYHOOD 

A Romantic Coincidence. — Miss Martha Craij:^* 
came from Ireland to this country in 1898 and on 
arrival at New York proceeded at once to Washington 
to present to the President souvenirs of his ancestral 
home, together with the following highly interesting 
information, received from her father and others on 
the eve of her departure: 

On the seventh of June, 1798, the great-granduncle 
of President McKinley, Francis McKinley, was taken 
from the home in Dervock to Coleraine market place 
and shot by English soldiers, a martyr to the cause of 
Irish liberty. The ofificer in command was a Captain 
Hanna, the great-grandfather of Senator Mark Hanna, 
President McKinley's eminent and faithful friend. 
At the execution of Francis McKinley were present 
his terror-stricken wife and children and some peasant 
neighbors. When the victim of English tyranny lay 
in his blood the "wise woman of the North," Peg 
O'Neill, burst through the bystanders with a shrill cry, 
took her stand by the dead body, and, raising her 
gaunt arms to heaven, called down vengeance on the 
murderers. Then dipping her fingers in the warm 
blood, she threw it over the soldiers, saying: "His 
blood be upon you, you cowards. Retribution never 
fails. Remember, the day shall come when the Lion 
shall do homage to a McKinley!" As England has 

* Official press correspondent for the Dominion Government at 
the Pan-American Exposition. 

13 



14 Life-work of William McKinley 

greatly honored our William McKinley, the prophecy 
of Peg O'Neill may be said to have been fulfilled, 
although perhaps not as interpreted at the time. 

Francis McKinley's sons soon after their father's 
death left Ireland for America, attracted by the stars 
and stripes, the symbol of liberty. 

"Hail brightest battner that floats on the gale, 
Flag of the country of Washington hail. 
Red are thy stripes as the blood of the brave, 
Bright are thy stars as the gleam on the wave. 
Wrapped in thy folds are the hopes of the free, 
Banner of Washington, blessings on thee." 

Miss Craig arrived in Washington, bent on her mis- 
sion, when the President and his Cabinet were very 
busy discussing the blowing up of the Maine. When 
she pleaded that she had come three thousand miles 
on purpose to interview the President she found ready 
admittance to the White House and in the anteroom 
she produced a piece of turf from the bog behinci the 
old home in Ireland, also a horseshoe she had picked 
up near the house, which together with the explana- 
tion she gave regarding the mixed Scotch and Irish 
blood in the McKinley veins were accepted as suffi- 
cient to pass her. She was ushered into the presence 
of the Chief, who rising from his seat at the head of 
the Cabinet meeting, said: "Gentlemen, excuse me; 
a young Irish woman has brought me tidings of my 
Irish ancestors and souvenirs from my ancestral home, 
I must receive her." He then went to greet her, 
wished her a cordial welcome to America, graciously 
received the scnu^enirs and thanked her for the informa- 
tion which she had brought him and which he accepted 
as true. 



Ancestry and Boyhood 15 

When the President was in Chicago later on, Miss 
Craig took occasion to show him a photograph of the 
old homestead, across one corner of which he wrote 
h's autograph. 

By a remarkable coincidence, at the time of the 
assassination of the President, Miss Craig was in 
the Temple of Music at the Exposition, where she 
had gone with the desire to greet him personally. 
The reader can imagine how vividly the President's 
sudden death must have connected itself in her mind 
with that of his heroic ancestor in Ireland. 



Historical Facts. — William McKinley's ancestry 
has been traced back by some genealogists through 
Highland history into the dim era of Macbeth and 
Macduff. It is clearly demonstrated, at all events, 
that the McKinley family originated in the western 
part of Scotland, were identified with the Covenanter 
party in religious and civil affairs, and shared their 
indomitable resistance to the persecution and tyranny 
of the Stuart kings. In the times of Charles II. the 
family emigrated to the north of Ireland, joining their 
clansmen who in Cromwell's day had colonized the 
province of Ulster. 

In the County of Antrim — Ireland's northernmost 
district — there stands a comfortable old farmhouse, 
which until recently attracted little notice, but which 
has now become a place of much more than local 
fame. Parish oracles point out the homestead of 
Dervock with unction, and errant Americans drift 
there from Larne, Belfast and even distant Dublin. 
For this squarely built farmhouse was the original 
home of the House of McKinley, and under this roof 



16 Life-work of William McKinley 

was born James McKinley, pioneer of the family in 
America, an ancestor of the President of the United 
States. 

Conagher, the hamlet in which this house is situ- 
ated, is on the road between Ballymoney and Dervock, 
in the County Antrim, and the old farmhouse is inter- 
esting to visitors on account of its typical picturesque- 
ness, as well as because it is the original home of the 
McKinley family, a fact which Antrim remembered 
with pride when William McKinley was elected Presi- 
dent of the United States. No member of the family 
has occupied the house since 1838, when the then 
owner went to America to join the various members 
of his family who from the middle of the last century 
had come to America, worthy members of that army 
of Scotch-Irish colonists which contributed so largely 
to the settlement and civilization of this continent. 

Two brothers McKinley, James and William, reached 
this country about twenty-five years before the battle 
of Bunker Hill. James settled in what is now the 
ancient town of York, in southern Pennsylvania, mar- 
ried, and sent his son David to fight under Washing- 
ton's flag in the war of the revolution. When peace 
was restored and independence gained, David McKin- 
ley returned to the Pennsylvania homestead, and there 
lived until after the war of 1812. Then, joining the 
great tide that began to move westward, he removed 
to the country beyond the Ohio river, and settled in 
what is now Columbiana county, Ohio. There he 
founded the "Buckeye branch" of the McKinley clan. 

While the McKinleys were thus making their way 
from Scotland to Ireland, and thence to Pennsylvania 
and Ohio, a family named Rose, also persecuted for 



Ancestry and Boyhood ^"^ 

conscience's sake, was seeking liberty in another 
direction. Andrew Rose was a leader among the 
English Puritans, and was one of those who migrated 
to Holland for refuge from tyranny; thence, attracted 
by the enterprise of Penn, he came to America and 
settled at Doylestown, Pa. There he prospered, 
became a leader in politics and a member of the legis- 
lative council of the colony. His son, Andrew Rose, 
Jr., was a gallant soldier in the revolutionary army, 
and later an iron manufacturer, whose work supplied 
the patriots with many cannon and other implements 
of war. In time David McKinley and Mary, the 
daughter of Andrew Rose, Jr., became acquaintances 
and friends, then lovers, and finally husband and 
wife. Thus were allied two sturdy stocks of Scotch- 
Irish and English Puritans, fully blending in the 
first offspring of this marriage — a boy, to whom was 
given the name of William. 

The President's Father. — This William McKinley 
remained in eastern Ohio, and was one of the pioneers 
of the iron business in that region, with foundries at 
F"airfield, New Wilmington and elsewhere. His wife 
was Nancy Allison, a descendant, like himself, of 
Scotch Covenanter stock. To them were born eight 
children, one of whom, a boy born at Niles, in Trum- 
bull county, Ohio — the second county north of Colum- 
biana — on January 29, 1843, inherited his father's name 
of WILLIAM. The house in which the future Presi- 
dent was born stood until 1895, when it was torn down. 
It was a frame structure, two stories high, and what was 
once the parlor was latterly used as a grocery store. 
At the front there was a vine-covered porch, on which 



i: 



Life-work of William McKinley 



McKinlcy, the child, used to play, and from which 
McKinley, the statesman, afterwards made many an 
address to the citizens of his native town. 



Early Education. — As a boy young William 
McKinley went for a few years to the village school 
at Niles. Then the family removed to Poland, in 
Mahoning, the county between Trumbull and Colum- 
biana, in order that he and the other children might 
enjoy the advantages of the academy in that town. 




WILLIAM Mckinley at is years of age 

In both institutions William showed himself a solid 
and thorough rather than a showy student. He 
already had a leaning toward argument and oratory 
and was a prominent figure in all schoolboy debates. 
At Poland there was a literary society and debating 
club, and of this he was for some time president. The 
story is told that the boys and girls saved up their 
spending money until they had enough to buy a car- 



Ancestry and Boyhood 19 

pet for the meeting room of the club. They purchased 
at a neighboring carpet store what they considered an 
exceedingly handsome fabric. Its groundwork was 
green and its ornamentation gorgeous golden wreaths. 
The society unanimously decided that no one should 
ever desecrate the carpet by stepping on it with his 
boots and the girl members, therefore, volunteered to 
knit slippers for all the members to wear. Unfortu- 
nately, the slippers were not ready for the first meet- 
ing, and so all the members who attended, and the 
visitors, too, were required to take off their shoes and 
listen to the debate in their stocking feet. The debat- 
ers themselves and young McKinley, who presided, 
did likewise. 

At the Poland academy McKinley was prepared to 
enter college, and at the age of i6 he was admitted to 
the Allegheny college, Meadville, Pa. Scarcely was 
he well started in his studies there, however, when he 
was taken ill and was compelled to return home. 
When his health was restored he found himself thrown 
largely on his own resources. The hard times of the 
Buchanan administration had caused his father some 
embarrassment in business, and justice to the rest of 
the family made it necessary for William to sup- 
port himself, at least partially. He therefore secured 
work as teacher in a district school near Poland. He 
had $25 a month salary and "boarded around." Much 
of the time, however, he lived at home, walking to 
and from school every day, a distance of several 
miles. His intention was to save up a little money 
and return to college in a year or two. But this was 
not to be. 



CHAPTER 111 

SERVICE AS A SOLDIER 

At the beginning of the war, in 1861, when the first 
call for volunteers came, among the first to enlist were 
young McKinley and his cousin, William McKinley 
Osborne, later General Osborne, and American Consul 
General in London. The latfer gives the following 
account of their enlistment: 

"There was a great excitement at that time, and 
hundreds of people followed the soldiers. Will and I 
were among them. We drove in a buggy over to 
Youngstown, and there saw the company leave for 
Columbus. On our way back to Poland that night we 
discussed the matter together and decided it was our 
duty to volunteer, and we thought that the men who 
staid would be despised by the community. 

"When we reached home Will told his mother what 
we had concluded to do, and she at once replied: 
'Well, boys, if you think it is your duty to fight for 
your country I think you ought to go.' A few days 
after this I left Poland for home, and told father that 
I wanted to go to the army. I knew he would allow 
me to go, as Aunt Nancy advised. I was not disap- 
pointed. My father was a Democrat, but he was a 
liberal man. He told me I could do as I wished, and 
he gave some money (it was gold, 1 remember) to fit 
me out. Will McKinley left Poland, and we went to 
Cleveland together. From there we went to Columbus 

20 



Service as a Soldier • 21 

and enlisted there at Camp Chase. General Fremont 
swore us in. Our enlistment was in cold blood, and 
not through the enthusiasm of the moment. It was 
done as McKinley has done most things of his life, 
as the logical offspring of careful consideration." 

The company referred to by General Osborne was 
Company E of the Twenty-third Ohio Infantry Volun- 
teers, which was entirely recruited from Poland. 

Active Service. — The Twenty-third Ohio was early 
in active service. Toward the end of July, 1861, the 
regiment was ordered to Clarksburg, W. Va., but it 
was not until the September following that it was 
introduced to real fighting, which occurred at Carnifex 
Ferry. In the spring of 1862 the regiment left winter 
quarters and moved, under the command of Lieuten- 
ant Colonel Hayes, in the direction of Princeton. The 
confederate troops who were there immediately evac- 
uated the place and the union troops took possession. 
The union troops were subsequently attacked by an 
overwhelming force and compelled to retire. For 
three weeks following that period the boys of the 
Twenty-third were nearly starved, as the enemy had 
succeeded in cutting off all supplies. These experi- 
ences, however, were but the foretaste of the two 
great events of that year, the battles of South Moun- 
tain and Antietam, in which the Twenty-third Ohio 
took a prominent part. 

After several moves the regiment was ordered to 
march with all possible speed to Camp Piatt, on the 
Great Kanawha, where it arrived on Aug. 18, after a 
march of 104 miles in a little over three days. A few 
days later McKinley had his first glimpse of Washing- 



22 Life-work of William McKinley 

ton, but his stay was short, for the regiment was again 
on the march, this time with General McClellan's 
army, toward Frederick City, at which place they dis- 
lodged the confederates, and on Sept. 13 they arrived at 
Middletown. Here was commenced the battle of 
South Mountain, culminating in the great battle of 
Antietam on Sept. 17. It was at Antietam that McKin- 
ley first won substantial recognition, being promoted 
to a Second Lieutenancy for gallant conduct on that 
bloody field of battle. 

Those who knew McKinley at the time he joined 
his regiment little suspected that the military career 
of the young private would be a theme for the elo- 
quence of his superior officer. Such, however, proved 
to be the case, and here is the story as told by that 
officer. General Rutherford B. Hayes, who, at a later 
period, was elected President of the United States. 

Statement by General Hayes. — "Rather more than 
thirty years ago," said General Hayes at a gathering 
at Lakeside, O., July 30, 1891, "I first made the 
acquaintance of Major McKinley He was then a 
boy, having just passed the age of 18. He had before 
that taught school, and was coming from an academy 
to the camp. He, with me, entered upon a new, 
strange life— a soldier's life — in the time of actual 
war. We were in a fortunate regiment^its Colonel 
was William S. Rosecrans — a graduate of West Point, 
a brave, patriotic and able man, who afterwards came 
to command great armies and fight many famous bat- 
tles. Its Lieutenant Colonel was Stanley Matthews, a 
scholar and able lawyer, who afterwards was appointed 
to the Supreme bench of the United States. 



Service as a Soldier 23 

"To this regiment William McKinley came, the boy 
I have described, carrying his musket and his knap- 
sack. 

"Young as he was, we soon found that in the busi- 
ness of a soldier, requiring much executive ability, 
young McKinley showed unusual and unsurpassed 
capacity, especially for a boy of his age. When bat- 
tles were fought or service was to be performed in 
warlike things, he always filled his place. The night 
was never too dark; the weather was never too cold; 
there was no sleet, or storm, or hail, or snow, or rain 
that was in the way of his prompt and efficient per- 
formance of every duty. 

"When 1 became commander of the regiment, he 
soon came to be upon my staff, and he remained upon 
my staff for one or two years, so that I did literally 
and in fact know him like a book and loved him like a 
brother. From that time he naturally progressed, for 
his talents and capacity could not be unknown to the 
staff of the commander of the army of West Virginia, 
George Crook, a favorite of the army he commanded. 
He wanted McKinley, and of course it was my duty 
to tell McKinley he must leave me. 

Heroism in Battle. — "The bloodiest day of the 
war, the day on which more men were killed or 
wounded than on any other one day — was Sept. 17, 
1862, in the battle of Antietam. Before daylight men 
were in the ranks and preparing for it. Without 
breakfast, without coffee, they went into the fight, 
which began at daylight and continued until after the 
sun had set. The commissary department of that bri- 
gade was under Sergeant McKinley's administration 



24 



Life-work of William McKinley 



and personal supervision. From his hands every man 
in the regiment was served with hot coffee and warm 
meats, a thing that had never occurred under similar 
circumstances in any other army in the world. He 
passed under fire and delivered, with his own hands, 
these things, so essential for the men for whom he was 
laboring. 

"Coming to Ohio and recovering from wounds, I 
called upon Governor Tod and told him this incident. 




LIEUTENANT McKINLEY. 1863. 

With the emphasis that distinguished that great war 
Governor, he said: 'Let McKinley be promoted from 
Sergeant to Lieutenant,' and that I might not forget, 
he requested me to put it upon the roster of the regi- 
ment, which I did, and McKinley was promoted. A^ 
was the case, perhaps, with many soldiers, I did not 
keep a diary regularly from day to day, but I kept 
notes of what was transpiring. When 1 knew that I 
was to come here it occurred to me to open the old 
note-book of that period and see what it contained, 
and I found this entrv: 



Service as a Soldier 25 

" 'Saturday, Dec. 13, 1862. — Our new Second Lieu- 
tenant, McKinley, returned to-day — an exceedingly 
bright, intelligent, and gentlemanly young officer. 
He promises to be one of the best.' 

"He has kept the promise in every sense of the 
word." 

Deeds of Valor. — The battle of Antietam was fol- 
lowed by engagements at Buffington's Island and at 
Cloyd Mountain, in which latter the Twenty-third 
Ohio again did deeds of valor. Several other battles 
were fought between the date of that of Cloyd Moun- 
tain and July 24, 1864, on which day a battle was 
fought at Kernstown, near Winchester, Va., in which 
the Twenty-third Ohio lost over 150 men and officers. 
General Russell Hastings, who took part in it, gives a 
glimpse of McKinley during that engagement. 

They were in the same regiment, on the same staff, 
and slept under the same blanket. On the union side 
was only Crook's corps, some 6,000 strong, while 
opposed to it was the full force of Early's army. The 
odds were too great, so, after some severe fighting, 
Hayes' brigade, which was engaged, drew back in the 
direction of Winchester. "Just at that moment," says 
General Hastings, "it was discovered that one of the 
regiments was still in an orchard where it had been 
posted at the beginning of the battle. General Hayes, 
turning to Lieutenant McKinley, directed him to go 
forward and bring away that regiment, if it had not 
already fallen. McKinley turned his horse and, 
keenly spurring it, pushed it at a fierce gallop 
obliquely toward the advancing enemy. 

"A sad look came over Hayes' face as he saw the 



26 Life-work of William McKinley 

young, gallant boy pushing rapidly forward to almost 
certain death. . . . None of us expected to see 
him again, as we watched him push his horse through 
the open fields, over fences, through ditches, while a 
constant fire from the enemy was poured upon 
him, with shells exploding around, about, and over 
him. 

"Once he was completely enveloped in the smoke 
of an exploding shell, and we thought he had gone 
down, but no, he was saved for greater work for his 
country. Out of this smoke emerged his wiry little 
brown horse, with McKinley still firmly seated, and as 
erect as a hussar. 

"McKinley gave the Colonel the orders from Hayes 
to fall back, saying, in addition, 'He supposed you 
would have gone to the rear without orders.' The 
Colonel's reply was, 'I was about concluding I would 
retire without waiting any longer for orders. I am 
now ready to go wherever you shall lead, but, Lieu- 
tenant, I "pintedly" believe I ought to give those 
fellows a volley or two before I go.' McKinley's 
reply was, 'Then up and at them as quickly as pos- 
sible,' and as the regiment arose to its feet the enemy 
came on into full view. Colonel Brown's boys gave 
the enemy a crushing volley, following it up with a 
rattling fire, and then slowly retreated toward some 
woods directly in their rear. At this time the enemy 
halted all along Brown's immediate front and for some 
distance to his right and left, no doubt feeling he was 
touching a secondary line, which should be approached 
with all due caution. During this hesitation of the 
enemy McKinley led the regiment through the woods 
and on toward Winchester. 



Service as a Soldier 27 

"As Hayes and Crook saw this regiment safely off, 
they turned, and, following the column, moved with it 
slowly to the rear, down the Winchester pike. At a 
point near Winchester McKinley brought the regiment 
to the column and to its place in the brigade. McKin- 
ley greeted us all with a happy, contented smile — no 
effusion, no gushing palaver of words, though all of 
us felt and knew one of the most gallant acts of the 
war had been performed. 

"As McKinley drew up by the side of Hayes to 
make his verbal report, I heard Hayes say to him, 'I 
never expected to see you in life again.' " 

At Cedar Creek. — Lieutenant McKinley distin- 
guished himself again in the battle of Opequan Creek, 
Sept. 19, 1864, and in the last engagement of national 
importance, which practically closed the active history 
of the Twenty-third Ohio Regiment, the battle of 
Cedar Creek, which took place on Oct. 19, 1864. 
Toward the close of that month the regiment was 
ordered to Martinsburg. On the march to that point 
the men voted at the Presidential election. The votes 
were collected by the judges of election as the column 
was in march, from among the wagons. It was there 
McKinley cast his first vote. An ambulance was used 
as an election booth, and an empty candlebox did 
duty as a ballot-box. At the same time and place 
Generals Sheridan, Crook, and Hayes cast their ballots, 
and it was the first vote ever cast by Sheridan or 
Crook. 

Early the following spring the Twenty-third returned 
to Camp Cumberland and on July 26, 1865, a little 
more than four years from the time of enlistment, the 



28 



Life-work of William McKinley 



regiment was mustered out and the scarred veterans 
who had experienced four years of dangers and hard- 
ships returned to their homes. 

Military Record. — The records show that William 
McKinley, Jr. enlisted as a private in Company E, of 
the Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry, on June 
II, 1861; that he was promoted to commissary ser- 
geant on April 15, 1862; that he was promoted to 
Second Lieutenant of Company D on Sept. 23, 1862; 




that he was promoted to First Lieutenant of Company 
E on Feb. 7, 1863; that he was promoted to Captain 
of Company G on July 25, 1864; that he was detailed 
as Acting Assistant Adjutant General of the First 
Division, First Army Corps, on the staff of General 
Carroll; that he was brevetted Major on March 13, 
1865, and that he was mustered out of service on July 
26, 1865. "For gallant and meritorious services at the 
battles of Opequan, Cedar Creek, and Fisher's Hill," 
reads the document commissioning young McKin- 
ley as Brevet Major, signed "A. Lincoln." 



CHAPTER IV 

RETURN TO CIVIL LIFE 

McKinley was 22 years old when he returned home 
to Ohio. For a time the young soldier hesitated 
whether to finish his interrupted college course or to 
begin at once the struggle for a livelihood. He com- 
promised by entering the law office of Judge Charles 
E. Glidden, at Canton, the county seat of Stark 
county, the next county westward from Columbiana. 
From Judge Glidden's office he went to the Albany 
law school, at Albany, N. Y. Here he graduated, and 
in 1867 was admitted to the bar of Canton. 

His First Case at Law. — His "shingle" was hung 
out forthwith at the door of a little office of his own, 
and he waited patiently for clients. Days passed, and 
a fortnight. Then, one day, in came his old precep- 
tor, Judge Glidden. 

"McKinley," said he, "here are the papers in a case 
of mine. It comes up to-morrow. I have got to go 
out of town, and I want you to take charge of it for 
me." 

McKinley was nonplussed. He declared that'; he 
could not do justice to the case at so short a notice. 
"I never have tried a single case yet, judge," said he. 

"Well, begin on this one, then," was the judge's 
reply. And it was finally settled that McKinley 
should do so. He sat up all night, working on the 
case, tried it the next day, and won it. A few days 

29 



30 



Life-work of William McKinley 



later, Judge Glidden entered his office and handed him 
^25. McKinley demurred at taking it. 

"It is too much for one clay's work," he said. 

"Don't let that worry you,'' replied Glidden, good- 
naturedly, "I charged them ^100 for the case, and I 
can well afford to give a quarter of it to you." 

A year or two later McKinley found himself pitted 
against John McSweeney, then considered one of the 




WILLIAM Mckinley as a law student. 1865 

most brilliant lawyers of the Ohio bar. The case was 
a suit for damages for malpractice, the plaintiff charg- 
ing that a surgeon had set his broken leg in such a way 
as to make him bow-legged on that side. McKinley 
defended the surgeon. McSweeney brought his client 
into court and had the injured limb exposed to the 
view of the jury. It certainly was very crooked, and 
the case looked bad for the surgeon. McKinley had 
both his eyes wide open, however, and fixed them to 
good purpose upon the man's other leg. As soon as 



Return to Civil Life 33 

the witness was turned over to him, he asked that the 
other leg should also be bared. The plaintiff and 
McSweeney vigorously objected, but the judge ordered 
it done. Then it appeared that his second leg was 
still more crooked than that which the surgeon had set. 
"My client seems to have done better by this man 
that nature itself did," said McKinley, "and I move 
that the suit be dismissed, with a recommendation to 
the plaintiff that he have the other leg broken and 
then set by the surgeon who set the first one." 

Elected District Attorney. — It was almost 
inevitable that the rising young lawyer should sooner 
or later get into politics. Already he was noted as a 
public speaker. His first speech had been made at 
the close of the war, when he responded for himself 
and his comrades at a public reception given to them 
on their return to Poland. In Stark County, where he 
opened his office, the outlook was poor for a Repub- 
lican as it was considered one of the banner Demo- 
cratic counties of the state. So when McKinley was 
put forward by his party for district attorney the nomi- 
nation was regarded as an empty honor. Perhaps that 
was why it was given to so young and inexperienced a 
man. But, however the convention and the public 
may have considered the matter, McKinley took it 
seriously. He made a vigorous canvass of the county 
and threw his whole heart into the work just as though 
he expected to be elected. And to the amazement of 
everybody he was elected. At the end of his two 
years' term he was renominated, and, though he was 
this time defeated, he kept his opponent's majority 
down to only forty-five, where the usual Democratic 



34 Life-work of William McKinley 

majority had been several hundred. This was the 
beginning of his political career. The next step was 
not taken until after five years more of hard study and 
diligent practice at the bar. 

Marriage and Home Life. — On Jan. 25, 1871, Major 
McKinley married Miss Ida Saxton of Canton. Mrs. 
McKinley was born and bred in Ohio. Of good fam- 
ily on both sides, she has the distinction of being a 
granddaughter of John Saxton, who for sixty years 
was the editor of the Ohio Repository, which is still 
published in Canton. The father of Mrs. McKin- 
ley, the late James A. Saxton, was a banker and cap- 
italist. After her marriage Mrs. McKinley became a 
communicant of the Methodist church, of which her 
husband was a lifelong member. In the course of 
time two children, both girls, christened Kate and 
Ida, were born to them. Just previous to the birth of 
her second child Mrs. McKinley was called upon to 
face the first great sorrow of her life in the death of 
her mother. From this blow she never quite reco\'- 
ered. She was still suffering from the shock when her 
second little girl, Ida, sickened and died, to be soon 
followed by Kate. These bereavements, coming after 
each other in such rapid succession, were too heavy a 
load for the tender heart of Mrs. McKinley. Her whole 
being was affected, her strength impaired, and she 
never was in robust health again. But with infinite 
patience, with the most delicate solicitude and ten- 
derest affection, her husband made life a pleasure for 
her, and she requited his love with unlimited devotion 
and confidence. Their married life was an ideal one. 

One who knew them well thus happily writes of 
their beautiful domestic life: 




WILLIAM Mckinley 

CITIZEN - SOLDIER - STATESMAN 



Return to Civil Life 35 

"His domestic life was as clear as sunshine. He 
married his sweetheart and the love she inspired grew 
stronger with every recurring day of their exquisite 
communion. Hers kept happy pace with his. Their 
thoughts of each other intermingled like the perfume 
of two rich roses. His solicitude for her was inde- 
scribably sweet. To each other their wishes were com- 
mands. None who ever heard McKinley address his 
wife failed to be struck by the tenderness of his inflec- 
tion. It was as caressing as a mother's touch upon 
her sleeping child. He called her Tdy,' her name 
being Ida — a Western peculiarity of pronunciation 
which led him to call Cuba 'Cuby.' " 

An instance of his responsiveness to every one of his 
darling's desires occurred on the night of his second 
inauguration, March 4, 1901, when they were proceeding 
in their carriage from the Executive Mansion to the 
inaugural ball. It is always the custom at these func- 
tions for the first gentleman and the first lady of the 
land to promenade through the ball room previous to 
taking their departure. On this occasion Mrs. McKin- 
ley said, while the carriage was rolling toward the 
Pension Building:— 

"Dear, I don't think I feel able to make that march 
to-night." 

Quick as thought his hand dropped caressingly upon 
hers. 

"All right, Idy," he said tenderly, "then we won't 
make it." 

The sad parting of this devoted and loving couple 
forms one of the most pathetic instances either in 
history or romance. 



CHAPTER V 

ELECTED TO CONGRESS 

In the early summer of 1876 Major McKinley 
announced himself as a candidate for representative in 
Congress from the Stark-Columbiana district. He 
won the Republican nomination against two rivals, 
and was then elected by a flattering plurality. In 
1877 Ohio elected a Democratic legislature, which 
promptly gerrymandered the congressional districts, 
so that when McKinley sought re-election in 1878 he 
found himself in a district normally Democratic by at 
least 1,800. Nothing daunted, he entered the cam- 
paign, and was successful by a majority of 1,300. Then 
the former district lines were restored, and he was 
easily returned for his third and fourth terms. Get- 
ting possession of the Ohio legislature again in 1883, 
the Democrats gerrymandered the state once more, 
putting McKinley in a district Democratic by from 
1,200 to 1,500. But the people of eastern Ohio knew 
and appreciated the statesman who had so well repre- 
sented them, and they re-elected him for his fifth 
term by over 2,000 majority. The sixth and seventh 
terms followed, as a matter of course. In 1889 came 
another Democratic victory and a third gerrymander, 
which threw Major McKinley in 1890 into a district 
which had the year before given a Democratic plu- 
rality of 2,900. He accepted the challenge, made a 
gallant fight, and was defeated by only 302 votes. It 

36 



Elected to Congress 37 

is interesting to recall, in view of this one defeat, that 
McKinley had been for some years before twitted in 
Congress by Mr. Springer on having been returned at 
'the previous election by a somewhat diminished 
majority. Mr. Springer said: "Your constituents do 
not seem to support you." McKinley's reply is 
wbrthy of remembrance: "My fidelity to my con- 
stituents," he said, "is not measured by the support 
they give me. I have convictions which I would not 
surrender if 10,000 majority had been entered against 
me." 

To tell the story of McKinley's seven terms would 
be to tell in a large measure the history of Congress 
and the nation for fourteen years. From the begin- 
ning he was an active and conspicuous member of the 
House. He was an American, and he considered 
nothing that concerned Americans unworthy of his 
notice. He recognized, however, that in view of the 
vast development, extension and multiplication of 
human interests there was little hope for success as a 
universal genius. A man must be a specialist if he 
would attain the greatest eminence and the greatest 
usefulness. Already, indeed, he had devoted his 
attention especially to the subject of the tariff and its 
bearings on American industry. The story is told that 
soon after he opened his law office at Canton, while he 
was as yet an untrained youth, he was drawn into a 
debate on that subject. Pitted against him was a 
trained, shrewd and experienced lawyer, who had at 
his tongue's end all the arguments in favor of free 
trade. The older and more expert debater won a 
seeming victory, but McKinley, though silenced for a 
time, was not convinced, "No one will ever overcome 



38 Life-work of William McKinley 

mc again in tiiat way," he said to a companion. "I 
know I am right and I know that 1 can prove it." 
Thenceforth the study of books and men and condi- 
tions of industry to attain that end was the chief labor 
of his life. 

Blaine's Tribute. — Mr. Blaine, in his "Twenty 
Years in Congress," made fitting mention of this 



REPRESENTATIVE McKINLEY, 1876 

feature of his younger colleague's work. "The inter- 
ests of his constituency," he wrote, "and his own 
bent of mind led him to the study of industrial ques- 
tions, and he was soon recognized in the House as one 
of the most thorough statisticians and one of the ablest 
defenders of the doctrine of protection." 

First Speech in Congress. — The first speech he 
made in Congress was on the subject of the tariff, and 
was in opposition to the nonprotective bill introduced 
by Fernando Wood, of New York, in 1878. That 



Elected to Congress 39 

speech made a marked impression on the House and 
the nation, and thenceforth its author was looked to in 
every tariff debate to be one of the chief upholders of pro- 
tection. An incident related by Judge Kelley, in his 
eulogy upon Dudley C. Haskell, shows how effec- 
tively McKinley answered this expectation. It was 
when the famous Morrison bill was before the House. 
Kelley was to open the debate on the Republican side 
and McKinley was to close it. Haskell, who was a ' 
member of the ways and means committee and a par- 
ticularly strong, debater, desired the honor of closing 
the debate, and asked Judge Kelley to persuade Mc- 
Kinley to give way to him. The judge went to McKin- 
ley and repeated Haskell's request. McKinley readily 
consented, saying he did not care in what order he 
spoke. So it happened that McKinley was the fourth 
or fifth speaker and Haskell was to talk last. At the 
conclusion of McKinley's speech a number of the mem- 
bers crowded around to congratulate him. Foremost 
among them was Haskell, who seized McKinley's 
hand enthusiastically, 'exclaiming: "Major, I shall 
speak last, but you, sir, have closed the debate." 

Again, on the closing day of the debate on the 
Mills bill,— May i8, 1888— Major McKinley won an 
exceptional personal and oratorical triumph, his 
generous courtesy in offering a portion of his own 
time to Samuel J. Randall when Mr. Mills tried to 
shut that veteran Democratic statesman off the floor, 
gracefully paving the way to a tariff speech of singular 
power, felicity and oratorical charm. 

Chairmanship of Ways and Means Committee. — On 
the organization of the Fifty-tirst Congress, in Decern- 



40 



Life-work of William McKinley 



ber, i88g, Major McKinley offered himself as a candi- 
date for the speakership, and, on being defeated by 
Thomas B. Reed in an amicable contest, the chair- 
manship of the ways and means committee fell to him 
as a compensation. He was universally recognized as 
the one man of all best qualified to frame the new 
tariff law which it seemed desirable to enact when the 
Republicans resumed full control of the government 




WILLIAM Mckinley, chairman of committee on 

WAYS AND means, 1889 



in 1889. Early in 1890 he gave the nation the meas- 
ure which bore his name. Of his work in connection 
with it he speaks modestly. "I was chairman of the 
committee," he says, "and I performed my duties as 
best I could. That is all. Some of the strongest men 
in Congress were on the committee, and the eight of 
us heard everybody, considered everything and made 
up the best tariff law we knew how to frame." 



Elected to Congress 41 

The McKixley Bill. — It is not necessary to enter 
into a detailed exposition of the provisions and effects 
of the McKinley bill. It took the tax off some 
chief necessaries of life; it stimulated old industries 
and called new ones of vast magnitude into prosperous 
existence; it greatly extended, by a wise system of 
reciprocity, the foreign commerce of the country; it 
provided means for conducting the government and 
for keeping the financial credit of the nation unim- 
paired. These are the facts now abundantly recog- 
nized beyond all challenge. We may quote as 
absolutely true the words spoken by Mr. McKinley 
himself at the time when the measure was repealed 
and the Wilson-Gorman measure of "perfidy and dis- 
honor" (as termed by President Cleveland) was sub- 
stituted in its place: 

"The law of 1890 was enacted for the American 
people and the American home. Whatever mistakes 
were made in it were all made in favor of the occupa- 
tions and the firesides of the American people. It 
didn't take away a single day's work from a solitary 
American workingman. It gave work and wages to 
all, such as they had never had before. It did it by 
establishing new and great industries in this country, 
which increased the demand for the skill and handi- 
work of our laborers everywhere. It had no friends in 
Europe. It gave their industries no stimulus. It gave 
no employment to their labor at the expense of our own. 

"During more than two years of the administration 
of President Harrison, and down to its end, it raised 
all the revenue necessary to pay the vast expenditures 
of the government, including the interest on the pub- 
lic debt and the pensions. It never encroached upon 



42 Life-work of William McKinley 

the gold reserve, which in the past had always Deen 
sacredly preserved for the redemption of outstanding 
paper obligations of the government. 

"During all of its operations, down to the change 
and reversal of its policy by the election of 1892, no 
man can assert that in the industries affected by it 
wages were too high, although they were higher than 
ever before in this or any other country. If any such 
can be found, I beg that they be named. I challenge 
the enemies of the law of 1890 to name a single indus- 
try of that kind. Further, I assert that in the indus- 
tries affected by that law, which that law fostered, no 
American consumer suffered by the increased cost of 
any home products that he bought. He never bought 
them so low before, nor did he ever enjoy the benefit 
of so much open, free home competition. Neither 
producer nor consumer, employer nor employe, 
suffered by that law." 

America's Destiny.— The lofty and patriotic prin- 
ciples underlying all of McKinley's efforts on behalf 
of his country, from the time h^ entered Congress 
to the moment when death overtook him at the helm 
of the ship of state, were aptly put in the following 
words by himself: 

"Where our artisans have the admitted capacity to 
excel, where our inventive genius has initiated many 
of the grandest discoveries of tl>ese later days, and 
where the native resources of our( land are as limitless 
as they are valuable, to supply the world's needs, it is 
our province, as it should be our earnest care, to lead 
in the march of human progress, and not rest content 
with any secondary place." 



CHAPTER VI 

ELECTED GOVERNOR OF OHIO 

Major McKinley's splendid canvass of 1890 in a hope- 
lessly Democratic district made him the logical Repub- 
lican candidate for governor of Ohio in the succeeding 
campaign. He was nominated by acclamation to 
make the race against James E. Campbell, the gov- 
ernor, and the fight he made was one of the hardest 
and most memorable in the history of the state. Mr. 
McKinley began his stumping tour on August i, and 
for three months he continued his labors, making from 
two to a dozen speeches a day. His campaign was on 
national issues, the tariff and the currency, and so elo- 
quently and passionately did he defend his principles 
that great crowds turned out to hear him. 

Advocates Sound Currency. — The Democrats had 
declared for the free and unlimited coinage of silver, 
and Governor Campbell, in all his speeches, presented 
this question as the "paramount issue" of the cam- 
paign. Major McKinley accepted the issue, and in 
his opening speech, at Niles, on August 22d, stated 
his position on the question in the following words: 

"The Democratic platform declares for the free and 
unlimited coinage of the silver of the world, to be 
coined, as freely as gold is now, upon the same terms 
and under the existing ratio. The platform of the 
Republican party stands in opposition to anything 
short of a full and complete dollar. The legislation 

43 



44 Life-work of William McKinley 

of the last Congress is the strongest evidence which 
can be furnished of the purpose of the Republican 
party to maintain silver as money, and of its resolu- 
tion to keep it in use as part of our circulating medium 
equal with gold. The law which the Republican party 
put upon the statute books declares the settled policy 
of the Government to be 'to maintain the two metals 
upon a parity with each other upon the present legal 
ratio or such ratio as may be provided by law.' 

"The free and unlimited coinage of silver demanded 
by the Democratic convention, recently held in 
Cleveland, amounts to this: That all the silver of the 
world, and from every quarter of the world, can be 
brought to the mints of the United States and coined 
at the expense of the Government; that is, that the 
mints of the United States must receive 412V3 grains 
of silver, which is now worth but 80 cents the world 
over, and coin therefrom a siK'er dollar, which, by the 
fiat of the Government, is to be received by the people 
of the United States and to circulate among them as 
worth a full dollar of 100 cents. 

"The silver producer, whose 4I2J^ grains of silver 
are worth only 80 cents or less in the markets of this 
country and the world, is thus enabled to demand that 
the Government shall take it at lOO cents. Will the 
Government be as kind to the producer of wheat and 
pay him 20 cents more per bushel than the market 
price? The silver dollar now issued under a limited 
coinage has 80 cents of intrinsic value in it, so 
accredited the world over, and the other 20 cents is 
legislative will — the mere breath of Congress. That 
is, what the coin lacks of value to make it a perfect 
dollar, Congress supplies by public declaration, and 



Elected Governor of Ohio 45 

I • holds the extra 20 cents in the Treasury for its protec- 
' tion. The Government, buying the silver at its mar- 
ket value, takes to itself the profit between the market 
value of 412}4 grains of silver and the face value of the 
silver dollar. Now it is proposed to remove the limit 
and to make the Government coin, not for account of the 
Treasury, but for the benefit of the silver mine owner. 
"It does not take a wise man to see that if a dollar 
worth only 80 cents intrinsically, coined without 
limit, is made a legal tender to the amount of its face 
value for the payment of all debts, public and private, 
a legal tender in all business transactions among the 
people, it will become in time the exclusive circulat- 
ing medium of the country. Gold, which is twenty 
per cent, more valuable on every dollar, will not be 
paid out in any transactions in this country when an 
eighty-cent silver dollar will answer the purpose. Nor 
will the greenback be long in returning to the Treasury 
for redemption in gold. We shall do our business 
therefore, with short dollars, rather than with full dol- 
lars as we are now doing. The gold dollar will be 
taken from the circulating medium of the country and 
hoarded, and the effect will be that the circulating 
medium will not be increased, but reduced to the 
extent of the gold circulating, and we will be com- 
pelled to do the business of the country with a silver 
dollar exclusively, which under present conditions is 
confessedly the poorest, instead of doing our business 
with gold and silver and paper money, all equal and 
all alike good.' 

He quoted President Cleveland and the Hon. M. D. 
Harter, a Democratic Representative in Congress, and 
proce-eded: 



46 Life-work of William McKinley 

"My competitor [Governor Campbell] has said in 
his reported interviews that in sentiment upon this 
subject the Democrats of Ohio are very much divided; 
that the vote in the convention was a very close one. 
This close vote not only emphasizes the dangers of 
the free-coinage declaration in the minds of a large 
number of the Democrats in the State, but enjoins the 
importance and necessity of the friends of honest 
money standing together, and in all the contests of 
the past they have been forced to stand together for 
an honest currency. Governor Campbell declared in 
one of his interviews that while he had his doubts 
about it, he was willing "to chance free and unlimited 
coinage of silver." I am not willing to "chance" it. 
Under present conditions the country cannot afford to 
chance it. We cannot gamble with anything so sacred 
as money, which is the standard and measure of all 
values. I can imagine nothing which would be more 
disturbing to our credit and more deranging in our 
commercial and financial affairs than to make this the 
dumping-ground of the world's silver. The silver 
producer might be benefitted, but the silver user never. 
If there is to be any profit in the coinage of silver, it 
should go to the Government. It has gone to the 
Government ever since the Bland-Allison law went 
into effect. The new declaration would take it from 
the Government and give it to the silver producer." 

To the charge made by his opponent that he had 
changed his views on the money question, Major 
McKinley, in a speech delivered on October 8th, in 
the course of a joint debate with Governor Campbell, 
replied by referring to his record upon that subject in 
Congress. He said: 



Elected Governor of Ohio 47 

"In 1877 I voted to reinstate the ancient silver dol- 
lar as a part of the coinage of the United States. Sil- 
ver had been stricken from our coinage in 1873 — 
stricken by both political parties, the one just as 
responsible as the other — and in 1878, being in favor 
of both gold and silver as money, to be kept at parity 
one with the other, I voted for the restoration of the 
silver dollar. When I did it we had but 8,000,000 sil- 
ver dollars in circulation. When I did it silver was 
more valuable than it is to-day. We have 405,000,000 
silver dollars to-day, and that is as much as we can 
maintain at par with gold with the price of silver that 
prevails throughout the world. I took every occasion 
to reinstate silver to its ancient place in our monetary 
system, because I wanted both metals. I am opposed 
to free and unlimited coinage, because it means that 
we will be put upon a silver basis and do business with 
silver alone instead of with gold, silver, and paper 
money, with which we do the business of the country 
to-day — every one of them as good as gold. 

"I want to tell the workingmen here, and the farm- 
ers, that it takes just as many blows of the hammer, it 
takes just as many strokes of the pick, it takes just as 
much digging, just as much sowing, and just as much 
reaping to get a short dollar as it does to get a full 
dolJar." 

In that campaign for the Governorship, the first gen- 
eral campaign Major McKinley had ever made, he was 
pronounced the best vote-getter ever seen on the stump 
in Ohio. He won the admiration of Democrats, as he 
won the devotion of Republicans, and his election by 
a handsome majority was gratifying to one party, 
without being a source of bitterness to the rank and 



48 



Life-work of William McKinley 



file of the other party. As his first term in the gov- 
ernor's chair drew toward its close he was renominated 
by acclamation, and after another spirited campaign 
he was re-elected by a majority of more than 80,000, 
at that time the largest but one in the history of the 
state. 

Governor McKinley. — As governor, Mr. McKinley 
never forgot that he was the chief magistrate not 
merely of the party which had elected him, but of the 




,^' 

GOVERNOR MCKINLEY OF OHIO, 1891 



whole state, and he was untiring in his efforts to secure 
for the whole state a wise, economical and honorable 
administration. Many questions relating to the wel- 
fare of workingmen became acute during his adminis- 
tration, and were dealt with by him in a spirit of 
intelligent sympathy. He had already long been 
known as an advocate of the eight-hour system, and of 
arbitration as a means of settling disputes between 



Elected Governor of Ohio 49 

employers and employes. It was due to his initiative 
that the state board of arbitration was established in 
Ohio, and to its successful operation he gave for 
nearly four years his close personal attention. 

Many times during his administration the peace 
of the state was disturbed by unseemly outbreaks 
requiring the application of the restraining power of 
the government. This power Mr. McKinley exercised 
with signal firmness and discretion. Fifteen times it 
was necessary to call out the state troops for the main- 
tenance or restoration of order, but on no occasion was 
the use of them in any respect oppressive. During 
the summer of 1894 strikes and other disturbances 
prevailed, especially on the chief railroad lines, and 
for three weeks the regiments were on duty, acquitting 
themselves most creditably for the protection of prop- 
erty and enforcement of the law, without any unneces- 
sary harshness toward either party to the disputes. 
On two noteworthy occasions desperate efforts were 
made by ill-advised mobs to commit the crime of lynch- 
ing. Governor McKinley promptly used the military 
forces of the state to pre\'ent such violence of law and 
dishonor to the commonwealth, and showed himself a 
thorough master of the trying situation. 

A distinctive feature of the McKinley administra- 
tion was the absence of red tape and needless for- 
mality. In his method of transacting business the 
governor was concise and direct, and in his inter- 
course with the people, though dignified, he was 
always approachable and genial. Access was readily 
had to him at all reasonable times, and a matter of 
actual interest never failed to recei\'e his courteous, 
prompt and painstaking attention. 



CHAPTER VII 

IN THE NATIONAL CONVENTIONS 

It was in the natural order of things that a man so 
forceful and efficient in every tried capacity should 
presently be regarded as a possible future President of 
the United States. As early as 1880 he was spoken of 
as a coming candidate. In 1884 his name was 
brought before the Republican national convention, 
though not with his authority or desire. Four years 
later, in 1888, the nomination lay within his reach, but 
he declined it on a point of honor. He was a delegate 
to the Chicago convention from Ohio, pledged to sup- 
port the candidacy of his friend, Senator Sherman. 
After several ballots had been taken, however, it 
became evident that the veteran statesman from Ohio 
was not to be the convention's choice. His friends 
supported him loyally, but were in a minority and were 
unable to rally others to their standard. So some of 
them began to cast about for another candidate to 
whom they could transfer their votes with better pros- 
pect of success. Their choice quickly fell upon 
McKinley. From the first, two delegates had been 
voting persistently for him, although he had not, of 
course, been formally placed in nomination. Now 
the number of his supporters rose to fourteen. The 
air became electric with premonitions of a stampede. 
He had listened to the announcement of the two votes 
for him on each ballot with mingled annoyance and 
amusement. But now the case was growing serious. 
The next ballot might give him a majority of the 

51 



52 Life-work of William McKinley 

whole convention. He had only to sit still and the 
ripe fruit would drop into his hands. He had only to 
utter an equivocal protest and the result would be the 
same. But there was nothing equivocal about Wil- 
liam McKinley. On one side was his personal honor, 
on the other side the presidency of the United States. 
In choosing between the two hesitation was impos- 
sible. Here occurred one of the most dramatic scenes 
ever witnessed in a convention: He sprang to his feet 
with an expression upon his face and an accent in his 
voice that thrilled the vast assemblage with admiration 
as he spoke: 

"Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Convention: 
I am here as one of the chosen representatives of my 
State. I am here by resolution of the Republican 
State Convention, commanding me to cast my vote for 
John Sherman for President and to use every worthy 
endeavor to secure his nomination. I accepted the 
trust because my heart and judgment were in accord 
with the letter and spirit and purpose of that resolu- 
tion. It has pleased certain delegates to cast their 
votes for me for President. I am not insensible to the 
honor they would do me, but in the presence of the 
duty resting upon me I cannot remain silent with 
honor. 1 cannot consistently with the wish of the 
State whose credentials I bear and which has trusted 
me — I cannot consistently with my own views of per- 
sonal integrity consent or seem to consent to permit 
my name to be used as a candidate before this conven- 
tion. I would not respect myself if I could find it in 
my heart to do or to permit to be done that which 
could even be ground for any one to suspect that I 
wavered in my loyalty to Ohio or my devotion to the 



Loyalty to Sherman 53 

chief of her choice and the chief of mine. I do not 
request — I demand — that no delegate who would not 
cast reflection upon me shall cast a ballot for me." 

That ended it. There was no stampede. McKinley 
was the hero of the hour, and his heroism prevailed. 
The nomination was not forced upon him, neither 
could he secure it for Mr. Sherman, though he loyally 
strove to do so to the end. But no man ever walked 
out of a national convention with higher honors upon 
him than those he bore that day. 

A similar incident occurred in 1892. Some time 
before the Republican National Convention of that 
year was held, Mr. McKinley had expressed himself 
as in favor of the renomination of President Harrison. 
He was elected a delegate-at-large as a Harrison man, 
and the understanding was that Ohio would vote 
solidly for the President's renomination. 

The convention made McKinley its permanent 
chairman, and the speech he made at the time is 
viewed as one of the most masterly presentations of 
the issues before the country ever delivered. Again 
at that convention Major McKinley insisted on his 
name being withdrawn as a candidate, and this not- 
withstanding the fact that the delegation from his own 
state had, unknown to him, decided to cast its vote for 
him. When the vote of Ohio was announced "Harri- 
son, 2; McKinley, 44 votes," he sprang from his seat, 
shouting: "I challenge the vote of Ohio!" 

When Texas was reached on the roll call and the 
vote of that State announced. Chairman McKinley 
invited Elliott F. Shepard of New York to preside, 
and then took the floor and moved that Benjamin 
Harrison be nominated for President of the United 



54 



Life-work of William McKinley 



States by acclamation. Mr. Clarkson of Iowa 
seconded the motion. An objection, however, being 
made that the roll call was in progress, McKinley 
withdrew his motion, but when the roll call was com- 
pleted his motion was again put and the nomination 
was made unanimous. 




GOV. Mckinley pleads for protection 

Becomes a National Leader. — Mr. McKinley' s able 
address as Chairman of the Convention raised him to 
the position of a national leader of the Republican 
party and paved his way to the Presidency. Follow- 
ing is the full text of the address: 



In the National Conventions 55 

"I thank you for the honor of presiding over the 
tenth National Convention of the Republican party. 
Republican conventions mean something. They have 
always meant something. Republican conventions 
say what they mean and mean what they say. They 
declare principles and policies, and purposes, and 
when intrusted with power execute and enforce them. 
The first National Convention of the Republican party 
met thirty-six years ago in the city of Philadelphia. 
The platform of that great convention reads to-day 
more like an inspiration than like an affirmation of a 
political party. Every provision of that great instru- 
ment made by the fathers of our party is on the public 
statutes of our country to-day. Every one of them has 
been embodied into public law, and that cannot be 
said of the platform of any other political organization 
in this or any other country in the world. Whenever 
there is anything to be done in this country, and by 
this country, and for this country, the Republican 
party is called upon to do it. There is one thing that 
can be said about our organization that cannot be said 
about any other — it can look backward without shame 
or humiliation and it can look forward with cheer and 
exultation. That cannot be said of any political 
organization other than ours in the United States. 

"Gentlemen of the convention, we are here to-day 
to make a platform and a ticket that will commend 
themselves to the conscience and the intelligence and 
the judgment of the American people. And we will 
do it. Whatever is done by this convention, either as 
to platform or as to ticket, will receive the approval of 
the American people in November of this year. 

"We are for a protective tariff and for reciprocity. 



56 Life-work of William McKinley 

We propose to take no backward step upon either of 
these great Republican principles. We stand for a 
protective tariff because it represents the American 
home, the American fireside, the American family, the 
American girl and the American bo}', and the highest 
possibilities of American citizenship. We piopose to 
raise our money to pay public expense by taxing the 
products of other nations rather than by taxing the 
products of our own. The Democratic party believes 
in direct taxation — that is, in taxing ourselves, but we 
don't believe in the principle so long as we can find 
somebody else to tax. Our protective tariff not only 
does everything which a revenue tariff can do in rais- 
ing all needed revenue, but a protective tariff does 
more than that. A protective tariff encourages and 
stimulates American industries and gives the widest 
possibilities to American genius and American effort. 
Does anybody know what tariff reform is? And that 
is to be the platform of our political opponents this 
year. What does it mean? You can study President 
Cleveland's utterances from the first one he made in 
New York, when he said he didn't know anything 
about the tariff, until his last in Rhode Island, and you 
come away ignorant and uninformed as to what tariff 
reform means. Since the war there have been three 
great tariff-reform bills proposed by the Democratic 
leaders, no two of them alike, neither oi them with 
the same free list, neither of them with the same 
tariff list, neither of them with the same rates of duty, 
but all made by the Democratic party upon the same 
principle, to symbolize and represent tariff reform. 

"You may go to Mr. Mills, you may go to Mr. 
Springer, and you will find they differ totally; but you 
may go to the House of Representatives at Washing- 



Pleading for Protection 57 

ton which was elected distinctly upon what they call a 
tariff-reform issue, with two-thirds majority in the 
House, and what do you find? They passed three bills. 
Let me name them. First, free tin plate, leaving 
sheet steel, from which it is made, tariffed; that is, 
the finished product free and the raw material bearing 
duty. Second, free wool to the manufacturer and 
tariffed cloth to the consumer. Third, free cotton ties 
to the cotton States and tariffed hoop iron to all the 
rest of the States. That is their idea of tariff reform. 

"Gentlemen of the convention, how do you like it? 
This contest that we enter upon is for the maintenance 
of reciprocity; and I want to say here that there is not 
a line in that tariff bill that is not American; there is 
not a page that does not represent true Americanism 
and the highest possibilities of American citizenship. 

"We are to declare ourselves upon other questions 
here to-day. We are to declare ourselves upon the 
question of a free ballot and a fair count. No platform 
should ever be made that does not reiterate that great 
constitutional guaranty; no Republican speech should 
ever be made that does not insist firmly and resolutely 
that the great constitutional guaranty shall be a living 
birth-right, not a cold formality of constitutional enact- 
ment, but a living thing which the poorest and humblest 
may confidently enjoy and which the richest and most 
powerful dare not deny. 

"We can well leave to the Committee on Resolu- 
tions the duty of making a platform that shall repre- 
sent the best thoughts and the best ideas and the best 
wisdom of the Republican party. When we go out of 
this convention upon a true Republican platform we 
will go out marching to victory, no matter what name 
may carry the banner." 



CHAPTER VIII 

NOMINATED AND ELECTED PRESIDENT 

Two or three years before the Republican National 
Convention of 1896 assembled, Governor McKinley's 
choice as the next Republican Presidential nominee 
began to be clearly foreshadowed. His two success- 
ful campaigns in Ohio, his wide popularity and excep- 
tional talents as an orator and a political leader, 
marked him as the most available candidate with 
whom to make the approaching contest for the Presi- 
dency. 

Mr. McKinley was placed in nomination before the 
convention by the Hon. Joseph B. Foraker, of Ohio. 
It was some minutes before the latter could begin to 
speak, owing to the deafening cheers and applause 
with which his appearance on the the platform was 
received. Finally, taking advantage of a lull, he 
spoke as follows: 

Senator Foraker's Nominating Address. — "Mr. 
Chairman and Gentlemen of the Convention: It 
would be exceedingly difficult, if not entirely impos- 
sible, to exaggerate the disagreeable experience of the 
last four years. The grand aggregate of the multi- 
tudinous bad results of a Democratic administration 
may be summed up as one stupendous disaster. It 
has been a disaster, however, not without at least one 
redeeming feature, it has been fair — nobody escaped 
it. It has fallen equally alike upon all sections of our 

58 



Nominated and Elected President 59 

country and all classes of our people; the Republican 
and the Democrat, the rich and the poor, the high and 
th^ low, have suffered in common. 

/"Idleness and its consequent poverty and distress 
ha^ been the rewards of labor; distress and bank- 
ruptcy have overtaken business; shrunken values have 
dissipated fortunes; deficient revenues have impover- 
ished the Government and brought about bond issues; 
and bond syndicates have discouraged and scandalized 
the nation^ Over against this fearful penalty is, how- 
ever', to be/set down one great compensatory result — 
it has destroyed the Democratic party. The proud 
columns which swept the country in triumph in 1892 
are broken and noiseless in 1896. Their boasted prin- 
ciples, when they came to the test of a practical appli- 
cation, have proved nothing but fallacies, and their 
great leaders have degenerated into warring chieftains 
of petty and irreconcilable factions. Their approach- 
ing National Convention is but an approaching national 
nightmare. No man pretends to be able to predict 
any good result to come from it, and no man is seek- 
ing the nomination of that convention or will accept 
any kind of public trust by proclaiming willingness to 
stand upon any platform that may be adopted. The 
truth is, the party that could stand up under the odium 
of human slavery, opposition to the war for the 
enfranchisement, reconstruction, and specie resump- 
tion, at last finds itself overmatched and undone by 
itself. It is writhing in the throes of dissolution, 
superinduced by a dose of its own medicine. No 
human agency can prevent its absolute overthrow at 
the next election, except only this convention. 

"If we make no mistake, the Democratic party will 



60 Life-work of William McKinley 

go out of power on the 4th of March, to remain out 
until God in his wisdom and mercy and goodness shall 
see fit once more to chastise his people. 

"So far we have not made any mistake. We have 
adopted a platform which, notwithstanding the scenes 
witnessed in this hall this morning, meets the demands 
and expectations of the American people. It remains 
for us now, as the last crowning of our work here, to. 
complete our task by nominating a good candidate. 

"The people want a good Republican. They want 
something more than a wise, patriotic statesman. 
They want a man who embodies in himself not only all 
of those essential qualifications, but who, in addition, 
in the highest possible degree typifies in elementary 
character, in regard, in ambition, and in purpose, the 
exact opposite of all that is signified and represented 
by the free-trade, deficit-making, bond-issuing, labor- 
saving Democratic administration. I stand here to 
present to this convention such a man. His name is 
William McKinley." 

At this point in Mr. Foraker's speech there was a 
tumult of applause that beggars all description. 
Delegates and \isitors leaped to their feet, waved 
their hats and handkerchiefs, and screamed and yelled 
like madmen. Further speech was out of the ques- 
tion, so the band began to play, "Marching Through 
Georgia," "Battle Cry of Freedom," "Yankee 
Doodle" and "Dixie," mingled with the cheers and 
yells of the people. For thirty-eight minutes pan- 
demonium reigned supreme. The chairman's appeals- 
at last brought the convention to order, and Mr. 
Foraker was able to proceed. Continuing, he said: 

"Gentlemen of the convention, vou seem to have 



Nominated and Elected President 61 

heard the name of my candidate before. And so you 
have. He is known the world over. His testimonials 
are:— a private life without reproach; four years of 
heroic service as a boy soldier on the battle-fields of 
the Republic under such gallant generals as Philip H. 
Sheridan; twelve years of conspicuous service in the 
halls of Congress, associated with great leaders of 
Republicanism; four years of executive service as 
Governor of Ohio; but greatest of all, measured by 
present requirements, leader of the House of Repre- 
sentatives and author of the 'McKinley law' — a law 
under which labor had richer reward, and the country 
greatly increased prosperity. 

"No other name so completely meets the require- 
ments of the American people, and no other man so 
absolutely commands their hearts and their affections. 
The shafts of envy, malice and hatred lie broken 
and harmless at his feet. They have already been 
shot and shot in vain; the quiver is empty and he 
untouched; and this is so because the American 
people know him, trust him, believe him, love him, 
and no efforts to disparage him can succeed. They 
know that he is patriotic and they know that he is an 
American of Americans. They know he is wise; that 
he is able and true, and they want him for President 
of the United States. They have already so declared, 
not in this or that State or section, but in all the 
States and all the sections of our country, from ocean 
to ocean and from the gulf to the lakes. They expect 
us to give them a chance to vote for him. 

"If we discharge that duty we will give joy to their 
hearts, enthusiasm to the campaign, and triumph and 
victory for our cause, and he in turn will give us an 



62 Life-work of William McKinley 

administration under which the country will enter 
upon a new era of prosperity at home and of glory and 
honor abroad. By all these tokens of the present, all 
these promises for the future, in the name of the forty- 
six delegates of Ohio, I submit his claims to your 
consideration." 

Nomination Seconded. — Senator Thurston, of 
Nebraska, took the floor to second the nomination, 
and was greeted with great applause. In the course of 
his eloquent address he gave expression to the follow- 
ing remarkable prophecy: 

"This is the year of the people. In their name, by 
their authority I second the nomination of their great 
champion, William McKinley. Not as a favorite son 
of any State, but as the favorite son of the United 
States. Not as a concession to Ohio, but as an added 
honor to the nation. 

"When this country called to arms he took into his 
boyish hands a musket and followed the flag, bravely 
baring his breast to the hell of battle that it might float 
serenely in the Union sky. For a quarter of a century 
he has stood in the fierce light of public place and his 
robes of office are spotless as the driven snow. He 
has cherished no higher ambition than the honor of his 
country and the welfare ot the plain people. Stead- 
fastly, courageously, victoriously, and with tongue of 
fire he has pleaded their cause. His labor, ability, 
and perseverance have enriched the statutes of the 
United States with legislation in their behalf. All his 
contributions to the masterpieces of American oratory 
are the outpourings of a pure heart and a patriotic 
purpose. His God-given powers are consecrated to the 



Nominated and Elected President 63 

advancement and renown of his own country and to the 
uplifting and ennobling of his countrymen. He has 
the courage of his convictions and cannot be tempted 
to woo success or avert defeat by any sacrifice of prin- 
ciple or concession to popular clamor. 

"In the hour of Republican disaster, when other 
leaders were excusing and apologizing, he stood 
steadfastly by that grand legislative act which bore his 
name, confidently submitting his case to the judgment 
of events, and calmly waiting for that triumphal vin- 
dication whose laurel this convention is impatient to 
place upon his brow. 

"Strengthened and seasoned by long Congressional 
service, broadened by the exercise of important execu- 
tive powers, master of the great economic questions 
of the age, eloquent, single-hearted, and sincere, he 
stands to-day the most conspicuous and commanding 
character of this generation, divinely ordained, as I 
believe, for a great mission, to lead this people out 
from the shadow of adversity into the sunshine of a 
new and enduring prosperity. 

"Omnipotence never sleeps. Every great crisis 
brings a leader. For every supreme hour Providence 
finds a man. The necessities of '96 are almost as 
great as those of '61. True, the enemies of the nation 
have ceased to threaten with the sword, and the Con- 
stitution of the United States no longer tolerates that 
shackles shall fret the limbs of men; but free trade and 
free coinage hold no less menace to American prog- 
ress than did the armed hosts of treason and rebellion. 
If the voice of the people is indeed the voice of God, 
then William McKinley is the complement of Abra- 
ham Lincoln. Yea, and he will issue a new emanci- 



64 Life-work of William McKiriley 

pation proclamation to the enslaved sons of toil, and 
they shall be lifted up into the full enjoyment of those 
privileges, advantages, and opportunities that belong 
of right to the American people. 

"Under his administration we shall command the 
respect of the nations of the earth; the American flag 
will never be hauled down; the rights of American 
citizenship will be enforced; abundant revenues pro- 
vided; foreign merchandise will remain abroad; our 
gold will be kept at home; American institutions will 
be cherished and upheld; all governmental obliga- 
tions scrupulously kept, and on the escutcheon of the 
Republic will be indelibly engraved the American 
policy, 'Protection, Reciprocity, and Sound Money!' 

"My countrymen, let not your hearts be troubled; 
the darkest hour is just before the day; the morning 
of the twentieth century will dawn bright and clear. 
Lift up your hopeful faces and receive the light; the 
Republican party is coming back to power, and Wil- 
liam McKinley will be President of the United States. 

"In an inland manufacturing city on election night, 
November, '94, after the wires had confirmed the news 
of a sweeping Republican victory, two workingmen 
started to climb to the top of a great smokeless chim- 
ney. 

"That chminey had been built by the invitation and 
upon the promise of Republican protective legislation. 
In the factory over which it towered was employment 
for twice a thousand men. Its mighty roar had 
heralded the prosperity of a whole community. It 
had stood a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night 
for a busy, industrious, happy people. Now bleak, 
blackened, voiceless, and dismantled, like a grim 



Nominated and Elected President 65 

specter of evil, it frowned down upon the hapless 
city, where poverty, idleness, stagnation, and want 
attested the complete disaster of the free-trade experi- 
ment. 

"Up and up and up they climbed, watched by the 
breathless multitude below. Up and up and up, until 
at last they stood upon its summit; and there in the 
glare of the electric lights, cheered by the gathered 
thousands, they unfurled and nailed an American flag. 
Down in the streets strong men wept — the happy tears 
of hope — and mothers, lifting up their babes, invoked 
the blessing of the flag; and then impassioned lips 
burst forth in song— the hallelujah of e.xulting hosts, 
the mighty p.nean of a people's joy. That song the 
enthusiastic millions yet sing. 

"'Hurrah! hurrahl we bring the jubilee; 

Hurrah ! hurrah ! the flag that makes us free ; 

So we sing the chorus from the mountains to the sea; 

Hurrah for McKinley and protection.' 

"Over the city that free flag waved, caressed by the 
passing breeze, kissed by the silent stars. And there 
the first glad sunshine of the morning fell upon it, 
luminous and lustrous with the tidings of Republican 
success. 

"On behalf of those stalwart workmen and all the 
vast army of American toilers; that their employment 
may be certain, their wages just, their dollars the 
best in the civilized world; on behalf of that dis- 
mantled chimney and the deserted factory at its base; 
that the furnaces may once more flame, the mighty 
wheels revolve, the whistles scream, the anvils ring, 
the spindles hum; on behalf of the thousand cottages 
round about and all the humble homes of this broad 



6G Life-work of William McKinley 

land; that comfort and contentment may again abide, 
the firesides glow, the women sing, the children laugh; 
yes, and on behalf of that American flag and all it 
stands for and represents; for the honor of every stripe, 
for the glory of every star; that its power may fill the 
earth and its splendor span the sky, I ask the nomina- 
tion of that loyal American, that Christian gentleman., 
soldier, statesman, patriot, William McKinley." 

McKinley's Methods of Campaigning. — Mr. Mc- 
Kinley received more than a majority of the votes cast 
on the first ballot, and was thereupon declared the 
unanimous choice of the convention. In the cam- 
paign that followed Mr. McKinley displayed afresh 
all the great qualities as a debater and a leader which 
he had developed in a long and admirable public 
career. 

He introduced a new method of presidential cam- 
paigning which elevated the position of the candidate 
and raised his candidacy from the role of a peram- 
bulating, office-seeking stump speaker to that of a dig- 
nified American citizen receiving the congratulations 
of the people "under his own vine and fig tree." 

Instead of touring the country to canvass for votes 
he received delegations of voters at his home in Can- 
ton, where, from his front porch, he delivered a series 
of addresses which exhibited a power of sustained dis- 
course, a versatility of information, a readiness of 
adaptation and of sagacious yet sincere appeal, a skill 
in marshaling facts, and, withal, a freedom from 
indiscretions and from partisan clap-trap which 
instantly commanded the attention and respect of the 
country. 



Nominated and Elected President 



67 



Mr. McKinley's second campaign differed from his 
first in this respect that he did not make a single 
speech to the public during the entire campaign, but 
remained at Washington attending strictly to his 
ofificial duties, preferring to let the people judge for 
themselves as to whether he was worthy of their 
suffrage for a second term. The people responded by 
giving him the largest popular and electoral vote ever 
accorded to any candidate for President. 




THE WHITE HOUSE. THE PRESIDENT'S OFFICIAL RESIDENCE 

After one of the most notable and stirring presi 
dential campaigns on record Republican efforts were 
rewarded with decisive success. Two hundred and 
seventy-one Republican electors were chosen, against 
one hundred and seventy-six Democratic or fusion 
electors, and both houses of Congress were found to 
be Republican. William McKinley and Garrett A. 
Hobart had swept the country. 



CHAPTER IX 

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 

When William McKinley arrived at Washington to 
be inaugurated as President of the United States, on 
March 4, 1897, his integrity was unquestioned and his 
good intentions generally admitted, but partisan foes 
and political friends were alike in intimating that he 
was deficient in sturdiness of character. Throughout 
the country one heard assertions that the new President 
was sadly lacking in backbone, and for this reason 
there were unpleasant auguries of what might happen 
during the coming four years. 

But the stirring events of those four years of Presi- 
dent McKinley's first term demonstrated to the people 
that there was no ground for their fears, and that if 
there was anything lacking in the President's char- 
acter it was not rigidity of the spinal column. 

DiNGLEY Tariff. — When he took the oath of ofifice 
Mr. McKinley was confronted with a serious commer- 
cial crisis. The country had been in business diffi- 
culties for years, and it seemed as if things were going 
from bad to worse. He was pledged to a new tariff 
policy as compared with that which had prevailed dur- 
ing Mr. Cleveland's administration. 

Almost the first act of the new President was to call 
an extra session of Congress for the express purpose 
of revising the Wilson tariff law, which he construed 
to be one of the principal reasons for the business 

68 



President of the United States 69 

depression of the previous four years. That law was 
passed through Congress rapidly and without a scan- 
dal. Even the delicate subject of the tariff on sugar 
was handled in a w\iy which has left no taint on the 
administration. 

The Dingley tariff was much higher than its prede- 
cessor, but it has proved eminently satisfactory, and 
the President's prediction that the Treasury would be 
full to overflowing as soon as labor was j protected by 
an adequate customs tariff was fulfilled. 

First Cabinet. — The members of President McKin- 
ley's Cabinet during his first term were: 

Secretary of State — William R. Day, of Ohio. 

Secretary of the Treasury — Lyman J. Gage, of 
Illinois. 

Secretary of War — Russell A. Alger, of Michigan. 

Attorney-General — John W. Griggs, of New Jersey. 

Postmaster-General — James A. Gary, of Maryland. 

Secretary of the Navy — John D. Long, of Massachu- 
setts. 

Secretary of the Interior — Cornelius N. Bliss, of 
New York. 

Secretary of Agriculture— James Wilson, of Iowa. 

Day was succeeded before the end of the term by 
John Hay; Alger gave place to Elihu Root, of New 
York; Ethan Allen Hitchcock, of Missouri, succeeded 
Bliss as Secretary of the Interior department and 
Charles Emory Smith took Gary's post. 

War with Spain. — The extra session of Congress, 
. which had been called immediately after the inaugura- 
^ tion, adjourned in July after the passage of the Ding- 



70 Life-work of William McKiriley 

ley act and before the commencement of the next 
session in December the conditions growing out of the 
revolt of the Spanish subjects in Cuba had become 
such that the relations between the United States and 
Spain were occupying largely the attention of the 
people. The delayed currency legislation was for the 
time losing its interest in the minds of the general 
public and the country watched the fight of the Cubans 
against the methods of warfare which Spain used, and 
felt more interest in that struggle than in domestic 
affairs. During the latter part of 1897 President 
McKinley and the Spanish government engaged in 
fruitless efforts to secure a settlement of the Cuban 
troubles on terms which the latter would grant and 
with which the people of the United States would be 
satisfied. 

Endeavors to Avoid War. — President McKinley 
exerted every possible effort consistent with the 
honor of our country to avoid a war with Spain. 
While his heart went out in sympathy to the 
oppressed Cubans, he held fast to his duty of main- 
taining neutrality and his earnest hope was that the 
relief of the Cubans might be effected without war. To 
this end he directed his best efforts. 

Message on Cuba. — In his message to Congress in 
Deceniber, 1897, the President discussed the Cuban 
situation and rejected propositions to recognize the 
belligerency or the independence of the Cubans as not 
justified by ev'^ents, but significantly referred to the 
possibility of "intervention upon humanitarian 
grounds." All the words of his message pertaining 



President of the United States 71 

to this subject breathed the spirit of "peace on earth, 
goodwill toward men." Concerning our duty to 
shield the Cubans from inhuman oppression and at the 
same time to deal justly by Spain, he said: 

"The United States has, nevertheless, a character to 
maintain as a nation which plainly dictates that right, 
and not might, should be the rule of its conduct. 

"Further, though the United States is not a nation 
to which peace is a necessity, it is in truth the most 
pacific of powers, and desires nothing so much as to 
live in amity with all the world. Its own ample and 
diversified domains satisfy all possible longings for 
territory, preclude all dreams of conquest, and pre- 
vent any casting of covetous eyes upon neighboring 
regions, however attractive. That our conduct toward 
Spain and her dominions has constituted no exception 
to this national disposition is made manifest by the 
course of our government, not only thus far during the 
present insurrection, but during the ten years that fol- 
lowed the rising at Yara in 1868. No other great 
power, it may safely be said, under circumstances of 
similar perplexity, would have manifested the same 
restraint and the same patient endurance. 

"It may also be said that this persistent attitude of 
the United States toward Spain in connection with 
Cuba unquestionably evinces no slight respect and 
regard for Spain on the part of the American people. 
They, in truth, do not forget her connection with the 
discovery of the western hemisphere, nor do they 
underestimate the great qualities of the Spanish 
people, nor fail to fully recognize their splendid 
patriotism and their chivalrous devotion to the 
national honor. They view with wonder and admira- 



72 Life-work of William McKinley 

tion the cheerful resolution with which vast bodies of 
men are sent across thousands of miles of ocean and 
an enormous debt accumulated that the costly posses- 
sion of the Gem of the Antilles may still hold its place 
in the Spanish crown. And neither the government 
nor the people of the United States have shut their 
eyes to the course of events in Cuba and have failed 
to realize the existence of conceded grievances which 
have led to the present revolt from the authority of 
Spain — grievances recognized by the queen regent and 
by the cortes, voiced by the most patriotic and 
enlightened of Spanish statesmen, without regard to 
party, and demonstrated by reforms proposed by the 
executive and approv'ed by the legislati\'e branch of 
the Spanish government. 

"It is in the assumed temper and disposition of the 
Spanish government to remedy these grievances, forti- 
fied by indications of influential public opinion in 
Spain, that this government has hoped to discover the 
most promising and effective means of composing the 
present strife with honor and advantage to Spain and 
with the achievement of all the reasonable objects of 
the insurrection. 

"It would seem that if Spain should offer to Cuba 
genuine autonomy — a measure of home rule, which, 
while preserving the sovereignty of Spain, would 
satisfy all rational requirements of her Spanish sub- 
jects — there should be no just reason why the pacifica- 
tion.of the island might not be effected on that basis. 

"Such a result would appear to be in the true inter- 
est of all concerned. It would at once stop the con- 
flict which is now consuming the resources of the 
island and making it worthless for whichever party 



President of the United States 73 

may ultimately prevail. It would keep intact the pos- 
sessions of Spain without touching her honor, which 
will be consulted rather than impugned by the ade- 
quate redress of admitted grievances. It would put 
the prosperity of the island and the fortunes of its 
inhabitants within their own control without severing 
the natural and ancient ties which bind them to the 
mother country, and would yet enable them to test 
their capacity for self-government under the most 
favorable conditions. 

"But the reasonableness of the requirement by 
Spain of unconditional surrender on the part of the 
insurgent Cubans before their autonomy is conceded 
is not altogether apparent. It ignores important 
features of the situation — the stability two years' dura- 
tion has given to the insurrection; the feasibility of 
its indefinite prolongation in the nature of things, and 
as shown by past experience; the utter and imminent 
ruin of the island unless the present strife is speedily 
composed; above all, the rank abuses which all parties 
in Spain, all branches of her government and all her 
leading public men concede to exist and profess a 
desire to remove. Facing such circumstances, to 
withhold the proffer of needed reforms until the 
parties demanding them put themselves at mercy by 
throwing down their arms has the appearance of 
neglecting the gravest of perils and inviting suspicion 
as to the sincerity of any professed willingness to 
grant reforms. 

"The objection on behalf of the insurgents — that 
promised reforms cannot be relied upon — must of 
course be considered, though we have no right to 
assume and no reason for assuming that anything 



74 Life-work of William McKinley 

Spain undertakes to do for the relief of Cuba will not 
be done according to both the spirit and the letter of 
the undertaking. 

"Nevertheless, realizing that suspicions and precau- 
tions on the part of the weaker of the two combatants 
are always natural and not altogether unjustifiable — • 
being sincerely desirous in the interest of both, as well 
as on its own account, that the Cuban problem should 
be solved with the least possible delay — it was inti- 
mated by this government to the government of Spain 
some months ago that if a satisfactory measure of 
home rule were tendered the Cuban insurgents and 
would be accepted by them upon a guaranty of its exe- 
cution, the United States would endeavor to find away 
not objectionable to Spain of furnishing such guaranty. 

"While no definite response to this intimation has 
yet been received from the Spanish government, it is 
believed to be not altogether unwelcome, while, as 
already suggested, no reason is perceived why it 
should not be approved by the insurgents. 

"Neither party can fail to see the importance of 
early action, and both must realize that to prolong the 
present state of things for even a short period will add 
enormously to the time and labor and expenditure 
necessary to bring about the industrial recuperation of 
the island. 

"It is, therefore, fervently hoped on all grounds that 
earnest efforts for healing the breach between Spain 
and the insurgent Cubans upon the lines above indi- 
cated may be at once inaugurated and hurried to an 
immediate and successful issue. 

"The friendly offices of the United States either in 
the manner above outlined or in any other way con- 



President of the United States 75 

sistent with our Constitution and laws, will always be 
at the disposal of either party. 

"Whatever circumstances may arise, our policy and 
our interest would constrain us to object to the 
acquisition of the island or an interference with its 
control by any other power. 

"It should be added that it cannot be reasonably 
assumed that the hitherto expectant attitude of the 
United States will be indefinitely maintained. While 
we are anxious to accord all due respect to the Sover- 
eignty of Spain, we cannot view the pending conflict 
in all its features and properly apprehend our inevi- 
tably close relation to it and its possible results without 
considering that by the course of events we may be 
drawn into such an unusual and unprecedented condi- 
tion as will fix a limit to our patient waiting for Spain 
to end the contest, either alone and in her own way, 
or with our friendly co-operation. 

"When the inability of Spain to deal successfully, 
with the insurgents has become manifest, and it is 
demonstrated that her sovereignty is extinct in Cuba 
for all purposes of its rightful existence, and when a 
hopeless struggle for its re-establishment has degener- 
ated into a strife which means nothing more than the 
useless sacrifice of human life and the utter destruction 
of the very subject matter of the conflict, a situation 
will be presented in which our obligations to the 
sovereignty of Spain will be superseded by higher 
obligations, which we can hardly hesitate to recog- 
nize and discharge. 

"Deferring the choice of ways and methods until the 
time for action arrives, we should make them depend 
upon the precise conditions then existing, and they 



76 Life-work of William McKinley 

should not be determined upon without gi\'ing careful 
heed to every consideration involving our honor and 
interest or the international duty we owe to Spain. 

"Until we face the contingencies suggested, or the 
situation is by other incidents imperatively changed, 
we should continue in the line of conduct heretofore 
pursued, thus in all circumstances exhibiting our 
obedience to the requirements of public law and our 
regard for the duty enjoined upon us by the position 
we occupy in the family of nations. A contemplation 
of emergencies that may arise should plainly lead us 
to avoid their creation, either through a careless dis- 
regard of present duty or even an undue stimulation 
and ill-timed expression of feeling. 

"But I have deemed it not amiss to remind the 
Congress that a time may arise when a correct policy 
and care for our interests as well as a regard for the 
interests of other nations and their citizens, joined by 
considerations of humanity and a desire to see a rich 
and fertile country, intimately related to us, saved 
from complete devastation, will constrain our govern- 
ment to such action as will subserve the interests thus 
in\olved, and at the same time promise to Cuba and its 
inhabitants an opportunity to enjoy the blessings of 
peace." 

The Maine Blown Up. — Then came the growth of 
war sentiment among the people, reaching fever heat 
at the news of the blowing up of the Maine in Havana 
harbor on Feb. 15, 189S. President McKinley was 
credited then and afterward with being averse to pre- 
cipitating hostilities with Spain, and he was time and 
again severely criticised for not taking the final step 



President of the United States 77 

which Congress had demanded, reflecting the feverish 
condition of the public mind. The outbreak of the 
war with Spain in the early spring of 1898 put an end to 
all partisan warfare in Congress against the President. 
The vigor and energy with which the war was car- 
ried on in every direction proved beyond a doubt that 
the President was master of the whole situation. 
, Congress on April 25 enacted the following: 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 
the United States of America in Congress assembled: 

First, That war be, and the same is hereby, declared to exist, 
and that war has existed since the 21st day of April, A. D. 189S, 
including said day, between the United States of America and 
the Kingdom of Spain. 

Second, That the President of the United States be, and he 
hereby is, directed and empowered to use the entire land and 
naval forces of the United States and to call into the actual serv- 
ice of the United States the militia of the several States to such 
extent as may be necessary to carry this act into effect. 

The first administration of President McKinley was 
taken up almost entirely, so far as the principal events 
are concerned, with. that war, and the policy which 
the United States pursued and proposed toward the 
former possessions of Spain. When Congress met in 
December, 1898, after the result of the conflict had 
been determined. President McKinley in his annual 
message reviewed the events leading up to the war and 
those that came afterward. 

As this review presents the best account of the 
Spanish-American war yet written and reveals the 
spirit and vigor with which it was conducted and 
brought to a successful close by President McKinley's 
administration, the next chapter will be devoted to 
giving it in full. 



CHAPTER X 

GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF THE WAR 

That President McKinley was an able orator is 
known and recognized the world over, and his graphic 
and concise history of the Spanish-American war, 
contained in his second annual message to Congress, 
of Dec. 5, 1898, ranks him among the ablest war annal- 
ists in history. Following is the account in full: 

"Military service under a common flag and for a 
righteous cause has strengthened the national spirit 
and served to cement more closely than ever the fra- 
ternal bonds between every section of the country. 

"A review of the relation of the United States to 
other powers, always appropriate, is this year of pri- 
mary importance in view of the momentous issues 
which have arisen, demanding in one instance the 
ultimate determination by arms and involving far- 
reaching consequences which will require the earnest 
attention of the Congress. 

"In my last annual message very full consideration 
was given to the question of the duty of the govern- 
ment of the United States toward Spain and the Cuban 
insurrection as being by far the most important problem 
with which we were then called upon to deal. The 
considerations then advanced and the exposition of 
the views then expressed disclosed my sense of the 
extreme gravity of the situation. 

Time Given Spain. — "Setting aside, as logically 
unfounded or practically inadmissible, the recognition 

78 



Graphic Description of the War 79 

of the Cuban insurgents as belligerents, the recogni- 
tion of the independence of Cuba, neutral intervention 
to end the war by imposing a rational compromise 
between the contestants, intervention in favor of one 
or the other party, and forcible annexation of the 
island, I concluded it was honestly due to our friendly 
relations with Spain that she should be given a reason- 
able chance to realize her expectations of reform, to 
which she had become irrevocably committed. Within 
a few weeks previously she had announced compre- 
hensive plans, which it was confidently asserted would 
be efficacious to remedy the evils so deeply affecting 
our own country, so injurious to the true interests of 
the mother country as well as to those of Cuba, and so 
repugnant to the universal sentiment of humanity. 

"The ensuing month brought little sign of real 
progress toward the pacification of Cuba. The auton- 
omous administration set up in the capital and some 
of the principal cities appeared not to gain the favor 
of the inhabitants nor to be able to extend their 
influence to the large extent of territory held by the 
insurgents, while the military arm, obviously unable 
to cope with the still active rebellion, continued many 
of the most objectionable and offensive policies of the 
government that preceded it. 

Spain's Cruel Warfare. — "No tangible relief was 
afforded the vast numbers of unhappy reconcentrados, 
despite the reiterated professions made in that regard 
and the amount appropriated by Spain to that end. 
The proffered expedient of zones of cultivation 
proved illusory. Indeed, no less practical nor more 
delusive promises of succor could well have been ten- 



80 Life-work of William McKinley 

dered to the exhausted and destitute people, stripped 
of ail that made life and home dear and herded in a 
strange region among uns}'mpathetic strangers hardly 
less necessitous than themselves. 

"By the end of December the mortality among 
them had frightfully increased. Conservative esti- 
mates from Spanish sources placed the deaths among 
these distressed people at over 40 per cent, from the 
time General Weyler's decree of reconcentration was 
enforced. With the acquiescence of the Spanish 
authorities a scheme was adopted for relief by chari- 
table contributions raised in this country and dis- 
tributed, under the direction of the consul-gen(;ral and 
the se\'eral consuls, by noble and earnest individual 
effort through the organized agencies of the American 
Red Cross. Thousands of lives were thus saved, but 
many thousands more were inaccessible to such forms 
of aid. 

"The war continued on the old footing, without 
comprehensive plan, developing only the same spas- 
modic encounters, barren of strategic result, that had 
marked the course of the earlier ten years' rebellion as 
well as the present insurrection from its start. No 
alternative save physical exhaustion of either com- 
batant, and therewithal the practical ruin of the island, 
lay in sight, but how far distant no one could venture 
to conjecture. 

Destruction of the Maine. — "At this juncture, on 
the 15th of February last, occurred the destruction of 
the battleship Maine, while rightfully lying in the har- 
bor of Havana on a mission of international courtesy 
and goodwill — a catastrophe the suspicious nature 



Graphic Description of the War 81 

and horror of which stirred the nation's heart pro- 
foundly. 

"It is a striking evidence of the poise and sturdy- 
good sense distinguishing our national character that 
this shocking blow, falling upon a generous people, 
already deeply touched by preceding e\-ents in Cuba, 
did not move them to an instant, desperate resolve to 
tolerate no longer the existence of a condition of dan- 
ger and disorder at our doors that made possible such 
a deed by whomsoever wrought. Yet the instinct of 
justice prevailed and the nation anxiously awaited the 
result of the searching investigation at once set on 
foot. 

"The finding of the naval board of inquiry estab- 
lished that the origin of the explosion was external by 
a submarine mine, and only halted through lack of 
positive testimony to fix the responsibility of its 
authorship. 

Near a Crisis. — "All these things carried convic- 
tion to the most thoughtful, even before the finding of 
the naval court, that a crisis in our relations with 
Spain and toward Cuba was at hand. So strong was 
this belief that it needed but a brief executive sug- 
gestion to the Congress to receive immediate answer to 
the duty of making instant provision for the possible 
and perhaps speedily probable emergency of w^ar, and 
the remarkable, almost unique, spectacle, was pre- 
sented of a unanimous vote of both houses on the 9th 
of March, appropriating ^50,000,000 for the national 
defense and for each and every purpose connected 
therewith, to be expended at the discretion of the 
President. 



82 Life-work of William McKinley 

Congress Acts. — "That this act of provision came 
none too soon was disclosed when the application of 
the fund was undertaken. Our forts were practically 
undefended. Our navy needed large provision for 
increased ammunition and supplies and even numbers 
to cope with any sudden attack from the navy of 
Spain, which comprised modern warships of the high- 
est type of continental perfection. Our army also 
required enlargement of men and munitions. 

"The details of the hurried preparation for the 
dreaded contingency are told in the reports of the 
secretaries of war and of the navy, and need not be 
repeated here. It is sufficient to say that the outbreak 
of war, when it did come, found our nation not unpre- 
pared to meet the conflict. 

Offers of Mediation. — "Nor was the apprehension 
of coming strife confined to our own country. It was 
felt by the continental powers, which, on April 6, 
through their ambassadors and envoys, addressed to 
the executive an expression of hope that humanity and 
moderation might mark the course of this government 
and people, and that further negotiations would lead 
to an agreement which, while securing the maintenance 
of peace, would affirm all necessary guaranties for the 
re-establishment of order in Cuba. 

"In responding to that representation I also shared 
the hope that the envoys had expressed that peace 
might be preserved in a manner to terminate the 
chronic condition of disturbance in Cuba so injurious 
and menacing to our interests and tranquillity, as well 
as shocking to our sentiments of humanity; and, while 
appreciating the humanitarian and disinterested char- 



Graphic Description of the War 83 

actcr of the communication they had made on behalf 
of the powers I stated the confidence of this govern- 
ment, for its part, that equal appreciation would be 
shown for its own and unselfish endeavors to fulfill a 
duty to humanity by ending a situation the indefinite 
prolongation of which had become insufferable. 

Futile Negotiations with Spain. — "Still animated 
by the hope of a peaceful solution and obeying the dic- 
tates of duty, no effort was relaxed to bring about a 
speedy ending of the Cuban struggle. Negotiations 
to this object continued actively with the government 
of Spain, looking to the immediate conclusion of a six 
months' armistice in Cuba, with a view to effect the 
recognition of her people's right to independence. 
Besides this, the instant revocation of the order of 
reconcentration was asked, so that the sufferers, 
returning to their homes and aided by united Ameri- 
can and Spanish effort, might be put in a way to sup- 
port themselves, and, by orderly resumption of the 
well-nigh destroyed productive energies of the island, 
contribute to the restoration of its tranquillity and 
well-being. Negotiations continued for some little 
time at Madrid, resulting in offers by the Spanish gov- 
ernment which could not but be regarded as inadequate. 
It was proposed to confide the preparation of peace to 
the insular parliament, yet to be convened under the 
autonomous decrees of November, 1897, but without 
impairment in anywise of the constitutional powers of 
the Madrid government, which to that end would 
grant an armistice, if solicited by the insurgents, for 
such time as the general-in-chief might see fit to fix. 
How and with what scope of discretionary powers the 



84 Life-work of William McKinley 

insular parliament was expected to set about the 
'preparation' of peace did not appear. If it were to 
be by negotiation with the insurgents, the issue 
seemed to rest on the one side with a body chosen by 
a fraction of the electors in the districts under Span- 
ish control, and on the other with the insurgent popu- 
lation holding the interior country, unrepresented in 
the so-called parliament and defiant at the suggestion 
of suing for peace. 

Message of April ii, 1898. — "Grieved and disap- 
pointed at this barren outcome of my sincere endeav- 
ors to reach a practicable solution, I felt it my duty to 
remit the whole question to Congress. In the message 
of April II, 1898, I announced that with this last over- 
ture in the direction of immediate peace in Cuba and 
its disappointing reception by Spain the effort of the 
Executive was brought to an end. I again reviewed 
the alternative course of action which had been pro- 
posed, concluding that the only one consonant with 
international policy and compatible with our firm-set 
historical traditions was intervention as a neutral to 
stop the war and check the hopeless sacrifice of life, 
even though that resort inx'olved 'hostile constraint 
upon both the parties to the contest, as well to enforce 
a truce as to guide the eventual settlement.' The 
grounds justifying that step were the interests of 
humanity, the duty to protect the life and property of 
our citizens in Cuba, the right to check injury to our 
commerce and people through the devastation of the 
island and, most important, the need of removing at 
once and forever the constant menace and the burdens 
entailed upon our Government by the uncertainties and 



Graphic Description of the War 85 

perils of the situation caused by the unendurable dis- 
turbance in Cuba. I said: 

'The long trial has proved that the object for which Spain has 
waged the war cannot be attained. The fire of insurrection may 
flame or may smolder with varying seasons, but it has not been, 
and it is plain that it cannot be, e.xtinguished by present methods. 
The only hope of relief and repose from a condition which can no 
longer be endured is the enforced pacification of Cuba. In the 
name of humanity, in the name of civilization, in behalf of endan- 
gered American interests which give us the right and the duty to 
speak and to act, the war in Cuba must stop. ' 

"In view of all this the Congress was asked to 
authorize and empower the President to take measures 
to secure a full and final termination of hostilities 
between Spain and the people of Cuba and to secure 
in the island the establishment of a stable govern- 
ment, capable of maintaining order and obser\ing its 
international obligations, insuring peace and tran- 
quillity and the security of its citizens' as well as our 
own, and for the accomplishment of those ends to use 
the military and naval forces of the United States as 
might be necessary, with added authority to continue 
generous relief to the starving people of Cuba. 

Resolution of Congress. — "The response of the 
Congress, after nine days of earnest deliberation, dur- 
ing which the almost unanimous sentiment of your 
body was developed on every point save as to the 
expediency of coupling the proposed action with a 
formal recognition of the Republic of Cuba as the true 
and lawful government of that island — a proposition 
which failed of adoption — the Congress, after confer- 
ence, on the 19th of April, by a vote of 42 to 35 in the 



86 Life-work of William McKinley 

Senate and 311 to 6 in the House of Representatives, 
passed the memorable joint resolution declaring— 

' First. That the people of the island of Cuba are, and of right 
ought to be, free and independent. 

Second. That it is the duty of the United States to demand, 
and the Government of the United States does hereby demand, 
that the Government of Spain at once relinquish its authority and 
government in the island of Cuba and withdraw its land and 
naval forces from Cuba and Cuban waters. 

Third. That the President of the United States be, and he 
hereby is, directed and empowered to use the entire land and 
naval forces of the United States, and to call into the actual serv- 
ice of the United States the militia of the several States to such 
extent as may be necessary to carry these resolutions into effect. 

Fourth. That the United States hereby disclaims any dis- 
position or intention to exercise sovereignty, jurisdiction, or con- 
trol over said island except for the pacification thereof, and asserts 
its determination when that is accomplished to leave the govern- 
ment and control of the island to its people. ' 

Declaration of War. — "This resolution was 
approved by the Executive on the next day, April 20. 
A copy was at once communicated to the Spanish min- 
ister at this capital, who fortwith announced that his 
continuance in Washington had thereby become 
impossible, and asked for his passports, which were 
given him. He thereupon withdrew from Washing- 
ton, leaving the protection of Spanish interests in the 
United States to the French ambassador and the 
Austro-Hungarian minister. Simultaneously with its 
communication to the Spanish minister here, General 
Woodford, the American minister at Madrid, was tele- 
graphed confirmation of the text of the joint resolution 
and directed to communicate it to the Government of 
Spain with the formal demand that it at once relinquish 
its authority and government in the island of Cuba and 



Graphic Description of the War 87 

withdraw its forces therefrom, coupling this demand 
with announcement of the intentions of this Govern- 
ment as to the future of the island, in conformity with 
the fourth clause of the resolution, and giving Spain 
until noon of April 23 to reply. 

"That demand, although, as above shown, officially 
made known to the Spanish envoy here, was not deliv- 
ered at Madrid. After the instruction reached Gen- 
eral Woodford on the morning of April 21, but before 
he could present it, the Spanish minister of state 
notified him that upon the President's approval of the 
joint resolution the Madrid Government, regarding the 
act as 'equivalent to an evident declaration of war,' 
had ordered its minister in Washington to withdraw, 
thereby breaking off diplomatic relations between the 
two countries and ceasing all official communication 
between their respective representatives. General 
Woodford thereupon demanded his passports and 
quitted Madrid the same day. 

"Spain having thus denied the demand of the United 
States and initiated that complete form of rupture ot 
relations which attends a state of war, the executive 
powers authorized by the resolution were at once used 
by me to meet the enlarged contingency of actual war 
between sovereign states. On April 22 I proclaimed 
a blockade of the north coast of Cuba, including ports 
on said coast between Cardenas and Bahia Honda, and 
the port of Cienfuegos, on the south coast of Cuba, 
and on the 23d I called for volunteers to execute the 
purpose of the resolution. By my message of April 
25 the Congress was informed of the situation, and I 
recommended formal declaration of the existence of a 
state of war between the United States and Spain. 



88 Life-work of William McKinley 

The Congress accordingly voted on the same day the 
act approved April 25, 1898, declaring the existence 
of such war from and including the 21st day of April, 
and re-enacted the provision of the resolution of April 
20 directing the President to use all the armed forces 
of the nation to carry that act into effect. Due notifi- 
cation of the existence of war as aforesaid was given 
April 25 by telegraph to all the governments with 
which the United States maintains relations, in order 
that their neutrality might be assured during the war. 
The various governments responded with proclama- 
tions of neutrality, each after its own methods. It is 
not among the least gratifying incidents of the strug- 
gle that the obligations of neutrality were impartially 
discharged by all, often under delicate and difficult 
circumstances. 

"In further fulfillment of international duty I issued, 
April 26, 1898, a proclamation announcing the treat- 
ment proposed to be accorded to vessels and their car- 
goes as to blockade, contraband, the exercise of the 
right of search, and the immunity of neutral flags and 
neutral goods under the enemy's flag. A similar 
proclamation was made by the Spanish government. In 
the conduct of hostilities the rules of the declaration 
of Paris, including abstention from resort to privateer- 
ing, have accordingly been observed by both belliger- 
ents, although neither was a party to that declaration. 

Recruiting of Army and Navy. — "Our country 
thus, after an interval of half a century of peace with 
all nations, found itself engaged in deadly conflict 
with a foreign enemy. E\'ery ner\'e was strained to 
meet the emergency. 



Graphic Description of the War 89 

"The response to the initial call for 125,000 volun- 
teers was instant and complete, as was also the result 
of the second call of May 25 for 75,000 additional 
x'olunteers. The ranks of the regular army were 
increased to the limits provided by the act of April 26 

"The enlisted force of the navy on the 15th of 
August, when it reached its maximum, numbered 
24,123 men and apprentices. One hundred and three 
vessels were added to the navy by purchase, one was 
presented to the government, one leased and the four 
vessels of the International Navigation company, the 
St. Paul, St. Louis, New York and Paris, were char- 
tered. In addition to these the revenue cutters and 
lighthouse tenders were turned over to the navy 
department and became temporarily a part of the 
auxiliary navy. 

"The maximum effective fighting force of the navy 
during the war, separated into classes, was as follows: 

"Regular — P'our battleships of the first class, one 
•battleship of the second class, two armored cruisers, 
six coast defense monitors, one armored ram, twelve 
protected cruisers, three unprotected cruisers, eighteen 
gunboats, one dynamite cruiser, eleven torpedo boats, 
fourteen old vessels of the old navy, including mon- 
itors. 

"Auxiliary — Sixteen auxiliary cruisers, twenty-eight 
converted yachts, twenty-seven converted tugs, nine- 
teen converted colliers, fifteen revenue cutters, four 
lighthouse tenders and nineteen miscellaneous vessels, 

Coast Defenses. — "Much alarm was felt along our 
entire Atlantic seaboard lest some attack might be 
made by the enemy. Every precaution was taken to 



90 Life-work of William McKinley 

prevent possible injury to our great cities lying along 
the coast. Temporary garrisons were provided, drawn 
from the state militia. Infantry and light batteries 
were drawn from the volunteer force. About 12,000 
troops were thus employed. The coast signal service 
was established for observing the approach of the 
enemy's ships to the coast of the United States, and 
the life-saving and lighthouse services co-operated, 
which enabled the navy department to have all portions 
of the Atlantic coast, from Maine to Texas, under 
observation. 

"The auxiliary navy was created under the authority 
of Congress, and was officered and manned by the 
naval militia of the several states. The organization 
patrolled the coast and performed the duty of a 
second arm of defense. 

"Under the direction of the chief of engineers sub- 
marine mines were placed at the most exposed points. 
Before the outbreak of the war permanent mining 
casements and cable galleries had been constructed at 
all important harbors. Most of the torpedo material 
was not to be found in the market and had to be 
specially manufactured. Under date of April 19 dis- 
trict officers were directed to take all preliminary 
measures, short of the actual attaching of the loaded 
mines to the cables, and on April 22 telegraphic orders 
were issued to place the loaded mines in position. 

"The aggregate number of mines placed was 1,535, 
at the principal harbors from Maine to California, 
preparations were also made for the planting of mines 
at certain other harbors, but owing to the early destruc- 
tion of the Spanish fleet these mines were not 
placed. 



Graphic Description of the War 91 

The Signal Corps. — ' 'The Signal Corps was promptly 
organized, and performed service of the most difficult 
and important character. Its operations during the 
war covered the electrical connection of all coast 
fortifications, the establishment of telephonic and 
telegraphic facilities for the camps at Manila, Santi- 
ago, and in Porto Rico. There were constructed 300 
miles of line at ten great camps, thus facilitating mili- 
tary movements from those points in a manner here- 
tofore unknown in military administration. Fielii 
telegraph lines were established and maintained under 
the enemy's fire at Manila, and later the Manila- 
Hongkong cable was re-opened. 

"In Porto Rico, cable communications were opened 
over a discontinued route, and on land the headquar- 
ters of the commanding officer was kept in telegraphic 
or telephonic communication with the division com- 
manders on four different lines of operations. 

"There was placed in Cuban waters a completely 
outfitted cable ship, with war cables and cable gear, 
suitable both for the destruction of communications 
belonging to the enemy and the establishment of our 
own. Two ocean cables were destroyed under the 
enemy's batteries at Santiago. The day previous to 
the landing of General Shaffer's corps, at Caimanera, 
within 20 miles of the landing place, cable communi- 
cations were established and a cable station opened, 
giving direct communication with the Government at 
Washington. This service was invaluable to the 
Executive in directing the operations of the Army and 
Navy. With a total force of over 1,300, the loss was 
by disease in camp and field, officers and men included, 
only 5. 



92 Life-work of William McKinley 

"The national-defense fund of ;^50, 000,000 was 
expended in large part by the Army and Navy, and 
the objects for which it was used are fully shown in 
the reports of the several Secretaries. It was a most 
timely appropriation, enabling the Government to 
strengthen its defenses and make preparations greatly 
needed in case of war. 

War Loan, War Taxes. — "This fund being inade- 
quate to the requirements of equipment and for the 
conduct of the war, the patriotism of the Congress 
provided the means in the war-revenue act of June 13 
by authorizing a 3 per cent, popular loan not to exceed 
$400,000,000 and by levying additional imposts and 
taxes. Of the authorized loan, ;^200, 000, 000 was offered 
and promptly taken, the subscriptions so far exceeding 
the call as to cover it many times over, while, prefer- 
ence being given to the smaller bids, no single allot- 
ment exceeded $5,000. 

"This was a most encouraging and significant result, 
showing the vast resources of the nation and the 
determination of the people to uphold their country's 
honor. 

"It is not within the province of this message to 
narrate the history of the extraordinary war that fol- 
lowed the Spanish declaration of April 21, but a 
brief recital of its more salient features is appro- 
priate. 

"The first encounter of the war in point of date took 
place April 27, when a detachment of the blockading 
squadron made a reconnoissance in force at Matanzas, 
shelled the harbor forts and demolished several new 
works in construction. 



Graphic Description of the War 93 

Dewey at Manila. — "The next engagement was 
destined to mark a memorable epoch in maritime war- 
fare. The Pacific fleet, under Commodore Dewey, had 
lain for some weeks at Hongkong. Upon the colonial 
proclamation of neutrality being issued and the cus- 
tomary twenty-four hours' notice being given, it 
repaired to Mirs Bay, near Hongkong, whence it pro- 
ceeded to the Philippine islands under telegraphed 
orders to capture or destroy the formidable Spanish 
fleet then assembled at Manila. 

"At daybreak on the 1st of May the American force 
entered Manila bay, and after a few hours' engagement 
effected the total destruction of the Spanish fleet, con- 
sisting of ten warships and a transport, besides cap- 
turing the naval station and forts at Cavite, thus 
annihilating the Spanish naval power in the Pacific 
ocean and completely controlling the bay of Manila, 
with the ability to take the city at will. Not a life 
was lost on our ships, the wounded numbering only 
seven, while not a vessel was materially injured. 

"For this gallant achievement the Congress, upon 
my recommendation, fitly bestowed upon the actors 
preferment and substantial reward. 

"The effect of this remarkable victory upon the spirit 
of our people and upon the fortunes of the war was 
instant. A prestige of invincibility thereby attached 
to our arms which continued throughout the struggle. 
Re-enforcements were hurried to Manila under the 
command of Major General Merritt and firmly estab- 
lished within sight of the capital, which lay helpless 
before our guns. 

"On the 7th day of May the government was advised 
officially of the victory at Manila, and at once inquired 



94 Life-work of William McKinley 

of the commander of our fleet what troops would be 
required. The information was received on the 15th 
day of May, and the first army expedition sailed May 
25, and arrived off Manila June 30. Other expeditions 
soon followed, the total force consisting of 641 officers 
and 15,058 men. 

"Only reluctance to cause needless loss of life and 
property prevented the early storming and capture of 
the city, and therewith >the absolute military occupancy 
of the whole group. The insurgents meanwhile had 
resumed the active hostilities suspended by the 
uncompleted truce of December, 1897. Their forces 
invested Manila from the northern and eastern sides, 
but were constrained by Admiral Dewey and General 
Merritt from attempting an assualt. 

"It was fitting that whatever was to be done in the 
way of decisive operations in that quarter should be 
accomplished by the strong arm of the United States 
alone. Obeying the stern precept of war, which 
enjoins the overcoming of the adversary and the 
extinction of his power wherever assailable as the 
speedy and sure means to win a peace, divided victory 
was not permissible, for no partition of the rights and 
responsibilities attending the enforcement of a just 
and advantageous peace could be thought of. 

In the West Indies. — "Following the comprehen- 
sive scheme of general attack, powerful forces were 
assembled at various points on our coast to invade 
Cuba and Porto Rico. Meanwhile naval demonstra- 
tions were made at several exposed points. On May 
1 1 the cruiser Wilmiiigton and torpedo boat Winsloiv 
were unsuccessful in an attempt to silence the batteries 



Graphic Description of the War 95 

at Cardenas, a gallant ensign, Worth Bagley, and four 
seamen falling. These grievous fatalities were, 
strangely enough, among the very few which occurred 
during our naval operations in this extraordinary con- 
flict. 

"Meanwhile the Spanish naval preparations had 
been pushed with great vigor. A powerful squadron 
under Admiral Cervera, which had assembled at the 
Cape Verde Islands before the outbreak of hostilities, 
had crossed the ocean, and by its erratic movements 
in the Caribbean Sea delayed our military plans while 
baffling the pursuit of our fleets. For a time fears 
were felt lest the Oregon and Marietta, then nearing 
home after their long voyage from San Francisco, of 
over 15,000 miles, might be surprised by Admiral 
Cervera's fleet, but their fortunate arrival dispelled 
these apprehensions and lent much-needed re-enforce- 
ment. Not until Admiral Cervera took refuge in the 
harbor of Santiago de Cuba, about May 19, was it 
practicable to plan a systematic naval and military 
attack upon the Antillean possessions of Spain. 

"Several demonstrations occurred on the coasts of 
Cuba and Puerto Rico in preparation for the larger 
event. On May 13 the North Atlantic Squadron 
shelled San Juan de Puerto Rico. On May 30 Com- 
modore Schley's squadron bombarded the forts guard- 
ing the mouth of Santiago Harbor. Neither attack 
had any material result. It was evident that well- 
ordered land operations were indispensable to achieve 
a decisive advantage. 

"The next act in the war thrilled not alone the 
hearts of our countrymen but the world by its excep- 
tional heroism. On the night of June 3 Lieutenant 



96 Life-work of William McKinley 

Hobson, aided by seven devoted \olunteers, blocked 
the narrow outlet from Santiago Harbor by sinking the 
collier Mcrrimac in the channel, under a fierce fire 
from the shore batteries, escaping with their lives as 
by a miracle, but falling into the hands of the Span- 
iards. It is a most gratifying incident of the war that 
the bravery of this little band of heroes was cordially 
appreciated by the Spaniards, who sent a flag of truce 
to notify Admiral Sampson of their safety and to com- 
plement them upon their daring act. They were sub- 
sequently exchanged July 7. 

Advance on Santiago. — "By June 7 the cutting of 
the last Cuban cable isolated the island. Thereafter 
the invasion was vigorously prosecuted. On June lo, 
under a heavy protecting fire, the landing of 600 marines 
from the Oregon, Marbldicad and Yankee was effected 
in Guantanamo bay, where it had been determined to 
establish a naval station. This important and essen- 
tial post was taken from the enemy after severe fight- 
ing by the marines, who were the first organized force 
of the United States to land in Cuba. The position so 
won was held despite desperate attempts to dislodge 
our forces. 

"By June 16 additional forces were landed and 
strongly intrenched. On June 22 the advance of the 
invading army under Major-General Shafter landed at 
Baiquiri, about fifteen miles east of Santiago. This 
was accomplished under great difficulties, but with 
marvelous dispatch. On June 23 the movement 
against Santiago was begun. 

"On the 24th the first serious engagement took 
place, in which the ist and loth cavalry and the 1st 



Graphic Description of the War 97 

United States volunteer cavalry, General Young's bri- 
gade of General Wheeler's division, participated, los- 
ing heavily. By nightfall, however, ground within 
five miles of Santiago was won. 

"The advantage was steadily increased. On July i 
a severe battle took place, our forces gaining the out- 
works of Santiago. On the 2d El Caney and San Juan 
were taken after a desperate charge, and the invest- 
ment of the city was completed. The navy co-oper- 
ated by shelling the town and the coast forts. 

Destruction' of Cervera's Fleet. — "On the day 
following this brilliant achievement of our land forces, 
July 3, occurred the decisive naval combat of the war. 
The Spanish fleet, attempting to leave the harbor, was 
met by the American squadron under command of 
Commodore Sampson. In less than three hours all 
the Spanish ships were destroyed, the two torpedo 
boats being sunk, and the Maria Teresa, Almirante 
Oquendo, Vizcaya and Cristobal Colon driven ashore. 
The Spanish admiral and over 1,300 men were taken 
prisoners, while the enemy's loss of life was deplor- 
ably large, some 600 perishing. 

"On our side but one man was killed, on the Brook- 
lyn, and one man seriously wounded. Although our 
ships were repeatedly struck, not one was seriously 
injured. 

"Where all so conspicuously distinguished them- 
selves, from the commanders to the gunners and 
unnamed heroes in the boiler rooms^ each and all con- 
tributing toward the achievement of this astounding 
victory, for which neither ancient nor modern history 
affords a parallel in the completeness of the event and 



98 Life-work of William McKinley 

the marvelous disproportion of casualties, it would 
be invidious to single out any for especial honor. 

"Deserved promotion has rewarded the more con- 
spicuous actors — the nation's profoundest gratitude is 
due to all of those brave men who, by their skill and 
devotion in a few short hours crushed the sea power 
of Spain and wrought a triumph whose decisiv^eness 
and far-reaching consequences can scarcely be meas- 
ured. Nor can we be unmindful of the achievements 
of our builders, mechanics and artisans or their skill 
in the construction of our warships. 

"With the catastrophe of Santiago, Spain's efforts 
upon the ocean virtually ceased. A spasmodic effort 
toward the end of June to send her Mediterranean fleet 
under Admiral Camara to relieve Manila was aban- 
doned, the expedition being recalled after it had 
passed through the Suez Canal. 

Santiago Capitulates. — "The capitulation of Santi- 
ago followed. The city was closely besieged by land, 
while the entrance of our ships into the harbor cut off 
all relief on that side. After a truce to allow of the 
removal of non-combatants, protracted negotiations 
continued from July 3 to July 15, when under menace 
of immediate assault, the preliminaries of surrender 
were agreed upon. On the 17th General Shatter occu- 
pied the city. 

"The capitulation embraced the entire eastern end 
of Cuba. The number of Spanish soldiers surrender- 
ing was 22,000, all of whom were subsequently con- 
veyed to Spain at the charge of the United States. 
The story of this successful campaign is told in the 
report of the Secretary of War, which will be laid 



Graphic Description of the War 99 

before you. The individual valor of officers and sol- 
diers was never more strikingly shown than in the sev- 
eral engagements leading to the surrender of Santiago, 
while the prompt movements and successive victories 
won instant and universal applause. To those who 
gained this complete triumph, which established the 
ascendency of United States upon land as the fight off 
Santiago had fixed our supremacy on the seas, the 
earnest and lasting gratitude of the nation is unspar- 
ingl}^ due. Nor should we alone remember the gal- 
lantry of the living; the dead claim our tears, and our 
losses by battle and disease must cloud any exultation 
at the result and teach us to weigh the awful cost of 
war, however rightful the cause or signal the victory. 
"With the fall of Santiago the occupation of Puerto 
Rico became the next strategic necessity. General 
Miles had previously been assigned to organize an ex- 
pedition for that purpose. Fortunately he was already 
at Santiago, where he had arrived on the nth of July 
with re-enforcements for General Shafter's army. 

Expedition to Porto Rico. — "With these troops, 
consisting of 3,415 infantry and artillery, two com- 
panies of engineers, and one company of the Signal 
Corps, General Miles left Guantanamo on July 21, 
having nine transports convoyed by the fleet under 
Captain Higginson with the Massachusetts (flagship), 
Dixie, Gloucester, Columbia and Yale, the two latter 
carrying troops. The expedition landed at Guanica 
July 25, which port was entered with little opposition. 
Here the fleet was joined by the Ayinapolis and the 
Wasp, while the Puritati and Ampliitrite went to San 
Juan and joined the New Orleans, which was engaged 



100 Life-work of William McKinley 

in blockading that port. The major-general com- 
manding was subsequently re-enforced by General 
Schwan's brigade of the 3d army corps, by General 
Wilson with a part of his division, and also by Gen- 
eral Brooke with a part of his corps, numbering in all 
16,973 officers and men. On July 27 he entered 
Ponce, one of the most important ports in the island, 
from which he thereafter directed operations for the 
capture of the island. 

"With the exception of encounters with the enemy 
at Guayama, Hormigueres, Coamo and Yauco, and an 
attack on a force landed at Cape San Juan, there was 
no serious resistance. The campaign was prosecuted 
with great vigor, and by the 12th of August much of 
the island was in our possession, and the acquisition 
of the remainder was only a matter of a short time. 

"At most of the points in the island our troops were 
enthusiastically welcomed. Protestations of loyalty 
to the flag and gratitude for delivery from Spanish rule 
met our commanders at every stage. 

"As a potent influence toward peace the outcome of 
the Porto Rican expedition was of great consequence, 
and generous commendation is due to those who partic- 
ipated in it. 

Last Battle of the War. — "The last scene of the 
war was enacted at Manila, its starting place. On 
Aug. 15, after a brief assault upon the works by the 
land forces, in which the squadron assisted, the cap- 
ital surrendered unconditionally. The casualties were 
comparatively few. 

"By this the conquest of the Philippine islands, 
virtually accomplished when the Spanish capacity for 



Graphic Description of the War loi 

resistance was destroyed by Admiral Dewey's victory 
of the 1st of May, was formally sealed. 

"To General Merritt, his ofificers and men, for their 
uncomplaining and devoted services, for their gal- 
lantry in action, the nation is sincerely grateful. 
Their long voyage was made with singular success, and 
the soldierly conduct of the men, most of whom were 
without previous experience in the military service, 
deserves unmeasured praise. 

Losses of Army and Navy. — "The total casualties 
in killed and wounded during the war were as follows: 

ARMY 

Officers killed 23 

Enlisted men killed . . 257 

Total 280 

Officers wounded 113 

Enlisted men wounded 1.464- 

Total 1,577 

NAVY 

Killed 17 

Wounded 67 

Died as result of wounds i 

Invalided from service 6 

Total 91 

"It will be observed that while our navy was engaged 
in two great battles and in numerous perilous under- 
takings in the blockades and bombardments, and more 
than 50,000 of our troops were transported to distant 
lands and engaged in assault and siege and battle, and 
many skirmishes in unfamiliar territory, we lost in 
both arms of the service a total of 1,948 killed and 
wounded; and in the entire campaign by land and sea 



102 Life-work of William McKinley 

we did not lose a gun or a flag or a transport or a ship, I 
and with the exception of the crew of the Merrimac 
not a soldier or sailor was taken prisoner. 

"On Aug. 7, forty-six days from the date of the 
landing of General Shafter's army in Cuba and twenty- 
one days from the surrender of Santiago, the United 
States troops commenced embarkation for home, and 
our entire force was returned to the United States as 
early as Aug. 24. They were absent from the United 
States only two months. 

"It is fitting that 1 should bear testimony to the 
patriotism and de\'otion of that large portion of our 
army which, although eager to be ordered to the post 
of greatest exposure, fortunately was not required out- 
side of the United States. They did their whole duty, 
and, like their comrades at the front, have earned the 
gratitude of the nation. 

"In like manner, the officers and men of the army and 
of the navy who remained in their departments and 
stations of the navy, performing most important duties 
connected with the war, and whose requests for assign- 
ment in the field and at sea I was compelled to refuse 
because their ser\'ices were indispensable here, are 
entitled to the highest commendation. It is my 
regret that there seems to be no provision for their suit- 
able recognition. 

Work of the Red Cross. — "In this connection it is 
a pleasure for me to mention in terms of cordial appre- 
ciation the timely and useful work of the American 
National Red Cross, both in relief measures prepar- 
atory to the campaign, in sanitary assistance at several 
of the camps of assemblage, and later, under the able 



Graphic Description of the War 103 

and experienced leadership of the president of the 
society, Miss Clara Barton, on the fields of battle and 
in the hospitals at the front in Cuba. Working in con- 
junction with governmental authorities and under 
their sanction and approval, and with the enthusiastic 
co-operation of many patriotic women and societies in 
the various states, the Red Cross has fully maintained 
its already high reputation for intense earnestness and 
ability to exercise the noble purposes of its interna- 
tional organization, thus justifying the confidence and 
support which it has received at the hands of the 
American people. 

"To the members and officers of this society and 
all who aided them in their philanthropic work the 
sincere and lasting gratitude of the soldiers and the 
public is due and is freely accorded. 

"In tracing these events we are constantly reminded 
of our obligations to the Divine Master for His watch- 
ful care over us and His safe guidance, for which the 
nation makes reverent acknowledgement and offers 
humble prayer for the continuance of His favor. 

Signing of the Protocol. — "The annihilation of 
Admiral Cervera's fleet, followed by the capitulation 
of Santiago, having brought to the Spanish government 
a realizing sense of the hopelessness of continuing a 
struggle now becoming wholly unequal, it made over- 
tures of peace through the French ambassador, who, 
with the assent of his government, had acted as the 
friendly representative of Spanish interests during the 
war. 

"On the 26th of July, M. Cambon presented a com- 
munication signed bv the duke of Almodovar, the 



104 Life-work of William McKinley 

Spanish minister of state, inviting the United States to 
state the terms upon which it would be willing to make 
peace. 

"On July 30, by a communication addressed to the 
duke of Almodovar and handed to M. Cambon, the 
terms of this government were announced substantially 
as in the protocol afterwards signed. On the loth of 
August the Spanish reply, dated August 7, was handed 
by M. Cambon to the Secretary of State. It accepted 
unconditionally the terms imposed as to Cuba, Puerto 
Rico, and an island of the Ladrones group, but 
appeared to seek to introduce inadmissible reservations 
in regard to our demand as to the Philippine islands. 
Conceiving that discussion on this point could neither 
be practical nor profitable, I directed that in order to 
avoid misunderstanding the matter should be forthwith 
closed by proposing the embodiment in a formal 
protocol of the terms upon which the negotiations for 
peace were to be undertaken. The vague and inex- 
plicit suggestions of the Spanish note could not be 
accepted, the only reply being to present as a virtual 
ultimatum a draft of protocol embodying the precise 
terms tendered to Spain in our note of July 30, with 
added stipulations of detail as to the appointment of 
commissioners to arrange for the evacuation of the 
Spanish Antilles. On August 12 M. Cambon 
announced his receipt of full powers to sign the 
protocol so submitted. Accordingly, on the afternoon 
of August 12, M. Cambon, as the plenipotentiary of 
Spain, and the Secretary of State, as the plenipoten- 
tiary of the United States, signed a protocol providing — 

Article I. Spain will relinquish all claim of sovereignty over 
and title to Cuba. 



Graphic Description of the War 105 

Art. II. Spain will cede to the United States the island of 
Porto Rico and other islands now under Spanish sovereignty in the 
West Indies, and also an island in the Ladrones to be selected by 
the United States. 

Art. III. The United States will occupy and hold the city, 
bay, and harbor of Manila pending the conclusion of a treaty of 
peace which shall determine the control, disposition, and govern- 
ment of the Philippines. 

"The fourth article provided for the appointment of 
joint commissions on the part of the United States and 
Spain, to meet in Ha\ana and San Juan, respectively, 
for the purpose of arranging and carrying out the 
details of the stipulated evacuation of Cuba, Porto 
Rico, and other Spanish islands in the West Indies. 

"The fifth article provided for the appointment of 
not more than five commissioners on each side, to 
meet at Paris not later than October i and to proceecl 
to the negotiation and conclusion of a treaty of peace, 
subject to ratification according to the respective con- 
stitutional forms of the two countries. 

"The sixth and last article provided that upon the 
signature of the protocol hostilities between the two 
countries should be suspended and that notice to that 
effect should be given as soon as possible by each 
government to the commanders of its military and 
naval forces. 

Hostilities Suspended. — "Immediately upon the 
conclusion of the protocol I issued a proclamation, of 
August 12, suspending hostilities on the part of the 
United States. The necessary orders to that end were 
at once given by telegraph. The blockade of the 
ports of Cuba and San Juan de Puerto Rico was in like 
manner raised. On the i8th of August the muster out 



106 Life-work of William McKinley 

of 100,000 volunteers, or as near that number as was 
found to be practical, was ordered. 

"On the 1st of December 101,165 officers and men 
had been mustered out and discharged from the serv- 
ice, and 9,002 more will be mustered out by the loth 
of this month; also a corresponding number of general 
and general staff officers have been honorably dis- 
charged the service. 

"The military commissions to superintend the 
evacuation of Cuba, Porto Rico, and the adjacent 
islands were forthwith appointed — for Cuba, Maj.-Gen. 
James F. Wade, Rear-Admiral William T. Sampson, 
Maj.-Gen. Matthew C. Butler; for Porto Rico, Maj.- 
Gen. John R. Brooke, Rear-Admiral Winfield S. Schley, 
Brig.-Gen. William W. Gordon — who soon afterwards 
met the Spanish commissioners at Havana and San 
Juan, respectively. The Porto Rican Joint Commis- 
sion speedily accomplished its task, and by the i8th of 
October the evacuation of the island was completed. 
The United States flag was raised over the island at 
noon on that day. The administration of its affairs 
has been provisionally intrusted to a military governor 
until the Congress shall otherwise provide. The 
Cuban Joint Commission has not yet terminated its 
labors. Owing to the difficulties in the way of remov- 
ing the large numbers of Spanish troops still in Cuba, 
the evacuation cannot be completed before the 1st of 
January next. 

The Peace Commission. — "Pursuant to the fifth 
article of the protocol, 1 appointed William R. Day, 
lately Secretary of State; Cushman K. Davis, William 
P. Frye, and George Gray, Senators of the United 



Graphic Description of the War 107 

States, and Whitelaw Reid to be the peace commis- 
sioners on the part of the United States. Proceeding 
in due season to Paris, they there met on the 1st of 
October five commissioners similarly appointed on the 
part of Spain. Their negotiations have made hopeful 
progress, so that 1 trust soon to be able to lay a defini- 
tive treaty of peace before the Senate, with a review of 
the steps leading to its signature. 

"I do not discuss at this time the government or the 
future of the new possessions which will come to us as 
the result of the war with Spain. Such discussion will 
be appropriate after the treaty of peace shall be rati- 
fied. In the meantime and until the Congress has 
legislated otherwise it will be my duty to continue the 
military governments which have existed since our 
occupation and give to the people security in life and 
property and encouragement under a just and benefi- 
cent rule. 

Destiny of Cuba. — "As soon as we are in possession 
of Cuba and have pacified the island it will be neces- 
sary to give aid and direction to its people to form a 
government for themselves. This should be under- 
taken at the earliest moment consistent with safety and 
assured success. It is important that our relations 
with this people shall be of the most friendly char- 
acter and our commercial relations close and reciprocal. 
It should be our duty to assist in every proper way to 
build up the waste places of the island, encourage the 
industry of the people and assist them to form a gov- 
ernment which shall be free and independent, thus 
realizing the best aspirations of the Cuban people. 

"Spanish rule must be replaced by a just, benevolent 



108 Life-work of William McKinley 

and humane government, created by the people of 
Cuba, capable of performing all international obliga- 
tions, and which shall encourage thrift, industry and 
prosperity and promote peace and good-will among all 
the inhabitants, whatever may have been their rela- 
tions in the past. Neither revenge nor passion should 
have a place in the new government. 

"Until there is complete tranquillity in the island 
and a stable government inaugurated, military occupa- 
tion will be continued." 



From the President's Thanksgiving Proclama- 
tion, Oct. 28th, 1898. — " Few 3^ears 

in our history have afforded such cause for thanksgi\'- 
ing as this. We have been blessed by abundant har- 
vests; our trade and commerce have wonderfully in- 
creased; our public credit has been improved and 
strengthened; all sections of our common country 
have been brought together and knitted into closer 
bonds of national purpose and unity. 

"The skies have been for a time darkened by the 
cloud of war, but as we were compelled to take up the 
sword in the cause of humanity we are permitted to 
rejoice that the conflict has been of brief duration and 
the losses we have had to mourn, though grievous and 
important, have been so few, considering the great 
results accomplished, as to inspire us with gratitude 
and praise to the Lord of Hosts. We may laud and 
magnify His holy name that the cessation of hos- 
tilities came so soon as to spare both sides the count- 
less sorrows and disasters that attend protracted 
war. . . . " 



CHAPTER XI 

OUR NEW POSSESSIONS 

Even after Admiral Dewey had annihilated the 
Spanish fleet in Manila Bay, the wisest statesman had 
no thought of the Philippine Islands becoming a part 
of the United States, but Providence seemed to force 
upon us the responsibility for their future. It became 
apparent that we must do with the Philippines one of 
four things: 

We must either allow Spain to reconquer them, or 
permit them to fall under the domination of some 
other European power, or suffer them to relapse into 
barbarism under a Tagal oligarchy, or take them 
under our own dominion. 

Every consideration of humanity in view of Spain's 
notorious oppression of the Philippines prevented the 
President from taking the first course. The second 
was contrary to American commercial interests in the 
Orient and was repugnant to the American spirit of 
freedom. The third would have delivered the Euro- 
pean residents and the peaceful natives of the islands 
to the mercy of a Malay despot. 

Thus circumstances and his own perception of the 
only just and humane course finally impelled the Presi- 
dent to demand the surrender of the entire archipelago 
to the United States. 

The ratification of the treaty of Paris was strongly 
opposed by Senators unable to comprehend the logic 
of events, until the attack by the forces raised by 

109 



110 Life-work of William McKinley 

Aguinaldo convinced the majority that but one course 
could be taken. 

No act of President McKinley's public career has 
been more severely criticised than the annexation of 
the Philippines, and yet within less than two years 
after the event that policy was ratified by the people 
at the polls as just and necessary and the only one 
that could have been adopted with proper considera- 
tion for the rights and .liberties of the natives as well 
as for the interests of the United States. And it is 
now conceded by all fair-minded people in this coun- 
try and Europe that he simply did his plain duty in 
putting down the Aguinaldo insurrection and restoring 
to the islands peace and order as the fundamental con- 
dition of prosperity and liberty. 

So far as Porto Rico is concerned that island 
dropped almost immediately into the status of a 
United States territory. Early in 1899, "The Re- 
publican Party of Porto Rico" was formed. The 
platform declared loyalty to the American flag and 
adherence to American ideas, and hailed with proud 
satisfaction the annexation of the island to the 
United States. The last paragraph read: "We con- 
gratulate ourselves and our country on being under 
the protection of the American flag, the recognized 
emblem of liberty and will lend every effort to 
advance civilization, to teach loyalty, to love Ameri- 
can institutions, and to honor Washington, Lincoln 
and McKinley, whose names are household words in 
the land." 

/ President McKinley was deeply impressed by this 
spirit of loyalty on the part of the Porto Ricans and 
in his message to Congress, Dec. 5, 1899, said: "The 



Our New Possessions 111 

markets of the United States should be opened up to 
her [Porto Rico's] products. Our plain dut}^ is to 
abolish all customs tariffs between the United States 
and Puerto Rico and give her products free access to 
our markets." 

At first both houses of Congress accepted this view 
of the President and several bills were introduced with 
this end in view, but sentiment soon underwent a 
change and it was argued that the wisest course to 
pursue was to levy customs duties equal to 25 per 
cent, of the rates provided for in the tariff laws of the 
United States, applying the sums so raised to the 
local expenditures required in carrying on the gov- 
ernment of the island. This was finally changed to 15 
per cent, of the rates provided by the Dingley law, and 
a bill to this effect was passed with the following 
proviso: "This act shall be taken and held to be pro- 
visional in its purposes and intended to meet a press- 
ing need for revenue for the island of Porto Rico, 
and shall not continue in force after March i, 1902." 

President McKinley was severely criticised for 
approving this bill, after having declared it to be "our 
plain duty" to adopt the policy of free trade toward 
the island. But the President was convinced on 
mature reflection that the Congressional plan was 
better for the islanders than his own, and, once shown 
that he was wrong and Congress was right, he had the 
moral courage to acknowledge his error. The result 
has proved the wisdom of his decision. The people 
of the island have had millions of dollars, resulting 
from this tariff, turned over to them, enabling them to 
build up a substantially organized government. 



CHAPTER XII 

MASTERLY DIPLOMACY IN INTERNATIONAL 
AFFAIRS 

The President's conduct of the war with Spain was a 
splendid achievement. It shed new luster on our arms 
and our diplomacy. It carried the country to a 
glorious \-ictoryunmarred by a defeat, and unsullied 
by an unworthy act. It raised the United States in 
the estimation of the world, removed the last barrier 
between North and South, and opened the way to new 
triumphs in the walks of peace. 

Leading the Powers in China. — Following the 
struggle in Cuba and on the high seas East and West 
came the embarrassing problems arising from the 
Boxer troubles in China. Here again President Mc- 
Kinley took a stand on high ground and gave the 
world a fine example of American sincerity and fair- 
ness. He insisted that China should not be torn to 
pieces by the contending allies, and that her markets 
should remain open to all the world on equal terms. 

He urged a policy of mercy when other nations 
demanded blood and revenge and impossible millions 
of money for reimbursement. Concerning this policy, 
in his last annual message to Congress, President 
McKinley said: 

"The policy of the United States through all this 
trying period was clearly announced and scrupulously 

113 



114 Life-work of William McKinley 

carried out. A circular note to the powers, dated 
July 3, proclaimed our attitude. Treating the condi- 
tion in the north as one of virtual anarchy, in which 
the great provinces of the south and southeast had no 
share, we regarded the local authorities in the latter 
quarters as representing the Chinese people with 
whom we sought to remain in peace and friendship. 

"Our declared aims involved no war against the 
Chinese nation. We adhered to the legitimate office 
of rescuing the imperiled legation, obtaining redress 
for wrongs already suffered, securing wherever pos- 
sible the safety of American life and property in China 
and preventing a spread of the disorders or their recur- 
rence. 

"As was then said: 'The policy of the government 
of the United States is to seek a solution which may 
bring about permanent safety and peace to China, 
preserve Chinese territorial and administrative entity, 
protect all rights guaranteed to friendly powers by 
treaty and international law and safeguard for the 
world the principle of equal and impartial trade with 
all parts of the Chinese empire.' 

"Faithful to those professions which, as it proved, 
reflected the views and purposes of the other co-oper- 
ating governments, all our efforts have been directed 
toward ending the anomalous situation in China by 
negotiations for a settlement at the earliest possible 
moment. As soon as the sacred duty of relieving our 
legation and its dependents was accomplished we with- 
drew from active hostilities, leaving our legation under 
an adequate guard in Pekin as a channel of negotiation 
and settlement — a course adopted by others of the 
interested powers. Overtures of the empowered rep- 



Diplomacy in International Affairs 115. 

resentatives of the Chinese emperor have been consid- 
erately entertained. 

"The Russian proposition looking to the restoration 
of the imperial power in Pekin has been accepted as 
in full consonance with our own desires, for we have 
held and hold that effective reparation for wrongs 
suffered and an enduring settlement that will make 
their recurrence impossible can best be brought about 
under an authority which the Chinese nation rever- 
ences and obeys. While so doing we forego no jot of 
our undoubted right to exact exemplary and deterrent 
punishment of the responsible authors and abettors of 
the criminal acts whereby we and other nations have 
suffered grievous injury. 

"For the real culprits, the evil counsellors who have 
misled the imperial judgment and diverted the sover- 
eign authority to their own guilty ends, full expiation 
becomes imperative within the rational limits of 
retributive justice. Regarding this as the initial con- 
dition of an acceptable settlement between China and 
the powers, I said in my message of Oct. i8 to the 
Chinese emperor: 

" 'I trust that negotiations may begin so soon as we 
and the other offended governments shall be effec- 
tively satisfied of your majesty's ability and power to 
treat with just sternness the principal offenders, who 
are doubly culpable, not alone toward the foreigners 
but toward your majesty, under whose rule the pur- 
pose of China to dwell in concord with the world had 
hitherto found expression in the welcome and protec- 
tion assured to strangers.' 

"Taking as a point of departure the imperial edict 
appointing Earl Li Hung Chang and Prince Ching 



116 Life-work of William McKinley 

plenipotentiaries to arrange a settlement, and the edict 
of Sept. 25 whereby certain high officials were desig- 
nated for punishment, this government has moved, in 
concert with the other powers, toward the opening of 
negotiations which Mr. Conger, assisted by Mr. Rock- 
hill, has been authorized to conduct on behalf of the 
United States. 

"General bases of negotiation formulated by the 
government of the French republic have been accepted 
with certain reservations as to details made necessary 
by our own circumstances, but like similar reserva- 
tions by other powers open to discussion in the prog- 
ress of the negotiations. 

"The disposition of the emperor's government to 
admit liability for wrongs done to foreign governments 
and their nationals and to act upon such additional 
designation of the guilty persons as the foreign minis- 
ters at Pekin maybe in a position to make, gives hope 
of a complete settlement of all questions involved, 
assuring foreign rights of residence and intercourse on 
terms of equality for all the world. 

"I regard as one of the essential factors of a durable 
adjustment the securement of adequate guaranties for 
liberty of faith, since insecurity of those natives who 
may embrace alien creeds is a scarcely less effectual 
assault upon the rights of foreign worship and teach- 
ing than would be the direct invasion thereof. 

"The matter of indemnity for our wronged citizens 
is a question of grave concern. Measured in money 
alone a sufficient reparation may prove to be beyond 
the ability of China to meet. 

"All the powers concur in emphatic disclaimers of 
any purpose of aggrandizement through the dismem- 



Diplomacy in International Affairs 117 

IxTmcnt of the cmi)irc. 1 am disposed to think that 
due comj^ensation may be made in part by increased 
guaranties of security for foreign rights and immuni- 
ties, and most important of all by the opening of China 
to the equal commerce of all the world. These views 
ha\-e been and will be earnestly advocated by our 
representatives. 

"The government of Russia has put forward a sug- 
gestion that in the event of protracted divergence of 
views in regard to indemnities the matter may be 
relegated to the court of arbitration at The Hague. 
I favorably incline to this, believing that high tribunal 
could not fail to reach a solution no less conducive to 
the stability and enlarged prosperity of China itself 
than immediately beneficial to the powers." 

The American policy had an important influence in 
modifying the treatment of China by the allied powers. 
Its benevolence and firmness surprised the world and 
won for the youngest among the nations universal 
respect and admiration. 

His Last Great Work. — President McKinley's last 
effort for his people consisted in paving the way for 
an abrogation of the Bulwer-Clayton treaty, thus 
securing for his country the right to build and control 
the Isthmian canal, which is to connect the Pacific 
and Atlantic oceans, a gigantic undertaking of inval- 
uable importance for the development of our coun- 
try's resources, commerce and civilization. This great 
achievement constitutes one of the most brilliant vic- 
tories in American diplomacy. 



CHAPTER XIII 

POLICY OF NATIONAL EXPANSION 

William McKinley will go into history as the presi- 
dent under whom our nation assumed its rightful place 
among the great powers of the world. The three 
chapters of American history which stand out above 
all others are those which relate to Washington, to 
Lincoln, and to McKinley. Washington created the 
nation; Lincoln preserved it; McKinley made it a 
leading world-power. 

With President McKinley' s entrance into the White 
House the industries of the country took on new life 
and the United States entered upon an era of industrial 
growth and universal prosperity without a parallel in 
the world's history. From the keenest depression the 
country rose at a bound to its highest pinnacle of 
prosperity. 

The President was wise enough to see the benefit to 
the masses from commercial expansion, and his earn- 
est efforts were put forth in that direction. At the 
threshold of his first term he committed his adminis- 
tration aggressively to the policy of Hawaiian annexa- 
tion, and the acc]uisition of the Philippines, Guam and 
the Spanish West India islands followed as a result of 
our war with Spain. Then Tutuila was added to our 
territory by the partition of Samoa, which supplied 
the needed stepping-stone by the United States to the 
world's commerce lying beyond the Pacific. The pos- 

ii8 



Policy of National Expansion 1 1 9 

session of islands in the Pacific opened up to the 
United States a new destiny — that of the commercial 
supremacy of the world. 

Commercial America has been expanding ever since 
territorial expansion was an accomplished fact. It 
expanded $338,874,084 in foreign commerce in 1900 
o\er 1897, the year before the war with Spain. In 
iron and steel exports alone the expansion in 1900 
over 1897 was $64,361,039; in 1912 it was $210,656,390. 

During the few years which have passed since the 
breaking out of the war with Spain the foreign trade 
of our country has grown by leaps and bounds. 
American goods are making their way into every mar- 
ket of the world in increasing quantities, but most 
remarkable of all has been the development of the 
commerce between this country and the islands over 
which the sovereignty of the United States was 
extended as a result of the Spanish war. 

Not only have the exports of breadstuffs, meat 
products, cotton, petroleum and other products which 
are exported in their natural state, or nearly so, 
largely increased, but there has been a still more strik- 
ing increase in the exports of manufactured goods such 
as machinery of all kinds, textiles, and boots and 
shoes. Until within the last few years exports of 
American manufactured goods were made up largely 
of what were termed "Yankee notions." Now the 
country is exporting everything, from steel bridges to 
be erected in Egypt or India, and locomotives to be 
run in Siberia or South Africa, to typewriters, cash 
registers, pocket knives, and pins and needles. 

For the fiscal year which ended June 30, 1897 — the 
last complete fiscal year before the Spanish war — the 



120 Life-work of William McKinley 

exports of merchandise of all kinds, including silver 
bullion, amounted in value to ^i, 112,024, 562. For the 
fiscal year ended June 30, 1900 the total reached the 
amount of $1,450,898,646. This rate of increase is 
still keeping up, and for the fiscal year ending June 30, 
1 912, the total exports to foreign countries foot up 
$2,204,322,409, against but $735,085,143 for the same 
period in 1897, and this notwithstanding the fact that 
the commerce between the United States and Hawaii 
and between the United States and Porto Rico is no 
longer considered foreign commerce, and is not included 
as such in the statistics of the Treasury Department. 

If a comparison between the year 1901 and 1897 
is to be made on a fair basis, the exports to Hawaii 
and Puerto Rico must be added to the foreign com- 
merce, and this would bring the figures for the first 
eight months of the fiscal year 1901 up to $1,031,488,442, 
or a gain of $296,404,299 over the same months in 1897. 

Although there has been a greater proportionate 
increase in exports to other parts of the world, Europe 
still continues to be the best customer of the United 
States, taking, in 1912, goods to the value of $1,341,- 
732,789. against $813,380,332 in 1897. In the same 
period exports to Asia and Oceanica have increased 
from $61,921,528 to $189,398,074, and the exports to 
Africa have increased from $16,953,127 to $24,043,424. 

That trade has followed the flag is shown by the 
remarkable increase in exports to Cuba, the Philippines, 
Hawaii and Porto Rico. The increase in exports to South 
America has been exceedingly satisfactory, the growth 
being from $33,768,493 in 1897 to $132,310,451 in 1912. 
The exports to other countries in North America in 1897 
were $124,963773, and in 1912, $516,837,621. The 



Life-work of William McKinley 121 

total exports to Cuba in 1897 amounted to but $8,250,- 
776. while in 1912 they had grown to $62,203,051. 
The increase in the exports to the Philippines was in 
still greater proportion. Before the islands were acquired 
by the United States American goods were almost 
unknown — the total value of the exports to the islands 
being but $94,597 in 1897. The total in 1912 had risen 
to $23,736,133. The exports to Hawaii grew f-'om 
$4,690,075 in 1897 to $24,418,671 in 1912, and those 
to Porto Rico increased from $1,988,888 in 1897 to $37,- 
424,545 in 1912. 

Reciprocity. — The growth of American industries 
and the expansion of our foreign trade have made it 
evident to thougthful men that a certain re-adjustment 
of our economic system has become necessary. The 
President was prompt to perceive this necessity, and 
in his last journey across the continent in many 
speeches emphasized the desirability of arriving at 
such amicable trade relations with other nations as 
would give us a larger market, without sacrificing the 
benefits of protection. He realized that in his own 
party strong influences would oppose any such con- 
cessions, but he grappled with the situation and in his 
last public address made a cogent argument for reci- 
procity policy. 

Whether he would have succeeded in getting this 
policy adopted before the end of his second term no 
one can say, but certainly no living American leader 
was better qualified than William McKinley to con- 
ciliate opposition and to bring about arrangements 
that would be beneficial to the general welfare without 
injury to our industrial interests. \ 



CHAPTER XIV 

TRIBUTES TO LINCOLN AND GARFIELD 

President McKinley was probably known to more of 
his countrymen by actual sight and hearing than any 
other President of the United States has ever been in his 
time. Early in his career he was in demand as a pub- 
lic speaker, and traveled over a large part of the 
country. His bearing and delivery were inimitable — 
easy, yet dignified, lofty, yet pleasing, always thor- 
oughly earnest and carrying proof of personal convic- 
tion,' and withal so amiable as to win over any 
unprejudiced listener. 

His style was earnestness, clearness and straightfor- 
wardness exemplified, and so direct and simple that 
no effort was required to follow him through an ordi- 
narily dry discourse. He possessed to perfection the 
happy faculty of clothing with the magnetic charm of 
life the cold, practical facts of economic statistics 
and experience. No wonder his eloquence was 
always in demand upon memorial and anniv^ersary 
occasions. Two specimens of his memorial addresses 
are here presented. 

Abraham Lincoln. — The following tribute to Lin- 
coln is from an address delivered by President McKin- 
ley before the Unconditional Republican Club, at 
Albany, N. Y., on February 12, 1895, ^^ ^^^ occasion 
of the observance of the anniversary of President 
Lincoln's birthday: 

122 



Tributes to Lincoln and Garfield 123 

"The greatest names in American history are Wash- 
ington and Lincoln. One is forever associated with 
the independence of the States and formation of the 
Federal union; the other with universal freedom and 
the preservation of the union. Washington enforced 
the Declaration of Independence as against England; 
Lmcoln proclaimed its fulfillment not only to a down- 
trodden race in America, but to all people for all time 




ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

who may seek the protection of our flag. These 
illustrious men achieved grander results for mankind 
within a single century, from 1775 to 1865, than any 
other men ever accomplished in all the years since the 
flight of time first began. Washington engaged in no 
ordinary revolution; with him it was not who should 
rule, but what should rule. He drew his sword not for 
a change of rulers upon an established throne, but to 
establish a new government which should acknowledge 



124 Life-work of William McKinley 

no throne but the tribune of the people. Lincoln 
accepted war to save the union, the safeguard of our 
liberties, and to re-establish it on 'indestructible foun- 
dations' as forever 'one and inseparable.' To quote his 
own grand words: 'Now we are contending that this 
nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, 
and that government of the people, by the people, for 
the people, shall not perish from the earth.' 

"A noble manhood nobly consecrated to man never 
dies. The martyr of liberty, the emancipator of a 
race, the savior of the only free government among 
men, may be buried from human sight, but his deeds 
will lix'e in human gratitude forever. 

"The story of his simple life is the story of the 
plain, honest citizen, true patriot, and profound states- 
man who, believing with all the strength of his mighty 
soul in the institutions of his country, won, because of 
them, the highest place in its government, then fell a 
sacrifice to the Union he held so dear and which 
Providence spared his life long enough to save. We 
meet to-night to do honor to one whose achievements 
have heightened human aspirations and broadened the 
field of opportunity to the races of men. While the 
party with which we stand and for which he stood can 
justly claim him, and without dispute can boast the 
distinction of being the first to honor and trust him, 
his fame has leaped the bounds of party and country 
and now belongs to mankind and the ages. 

"Lincoln had sublime faith in the people. He 
walked with and among them. He recognized the 
importance and power of an enlightened public senti- 
ment and was guided by it. Even amid the vicissi- 
tudes of war he concealed little from the public view 



Tributes to Lincoln and Garfield 125 

and inspection. In all he did he invited rather than 
evaded examination and criticism. He submitted his 
plans and purposes, as far as practicable, to public 
consideration with perfect frankness and sincerity. 
There was such homely simplicity in his character that 
it could not be hedged in by the pomp of place nor the 
ceremonials of high official station. He was so 
accessible to the public that he seemed to take the 
people into his confidence. Here, perhaps, was one 
secret of his power. The people never lost their con- 
fidence in him, however much they unconsciously 
added to his personal discomforts and trials. 

"Lincoln was a man of moderation. He was neither 
an autocrat nor a tyrant. If he moved slowly some- 
times, it was because it was better to move slowly, 
and he was only waiting for his reserves to come up. 
Possessing almost unlimited power, he yet carried him- 
self like one of the humblest of men. He weighed 
every subject. He considered and reflected upon 
every phase of public duty. He got the average judg- 
ment of the plain people. He had a high sense of 
justice, a clear understanding of the rights of others, 
and ne\-er needlessly inflicted an injury upon any man. 
He always taught and enforced the doctrine of mercy 
and charity on every occasion. Even in the excess of 
rejoicing, he said to a party who came to serenade him 
a few nights after the Presidential election in No\'em- 
ber, 1864. 'Now that the election is over, may not all 
having a common interest reunite in a common effort 
to save our common country? So long as I have been 
here I have not willingly planted a thorn in any man's 
bosom. While I am deeply sensible to the high com- 
pliment of a re-election, and duly grateful, as I trust, 



126 Life-work of William IVIcKinley 

to Almighty God for having directed my countrymen 
to a right conclusion, as I think, for their own good, 
it adds nothing to my satisfaction that any other man 
may be disappointed or pained by the result.' " 

James A. Garfield. — The State of Ohio presented 
to the nation a statue of Garfield for Statuary Hall, at 
Washington, D. C., and on January 19, 1886, it was 
unveiled, on which occasion William McKinlev deliv- 




JAMHS A. GARFIELD. 

ered an address in memory of the martyred Presi- 
dent. The following tribute is from that address: 

"Distinguished as was his military career, which in 
itself would ha\'e given him a proud place in history, 
his most enduring fame, his highest renown, was 
earned here as a representative of the people. Here 
his marvelous qualities were brought into full activity, 
here he grew with gradual but ever-increasing strength, 
here he won his richest laurels, here was the scene and 
center of his greatest glory. Here he was leader and 



Tributes to Lincoln and Garfield 127 

master, not by combination of scheming, not by 
chicanery or caucus, but by the force of his cultixatetl 
mind; his keen and far-se,eing judgment, his unanswer- 
able logic, his strength and power of speech, his 
thorough comprehension of the subjects of legislation. 
Always strong, he was strongest on his feet addressing 
the House, or from the rostrum, the assembled people. 
Who of us having heard him, here or elsewhere, speak- 
ing upon a question of great national concern, can for- 
get the might and majesty, the force and directness, 
the grace and beauty of his utterances? He was always 
just to his adversary, an open and manly opponent, 
and free from invective. He convinced the judgment 
with his searching logic, while he swayed his listeners 
with brilliant periods and glowing eloquence. He was 
always an educator of people. His thoughts were 
fresh, vigorous, and instructive. 

"In General Garfield, as in Lincoln and Grant, we 
find the best representation of the possibilities of 
American life. Boy and man, he typifies American 
youth and manhood and illustrates the beneficence and 
glory of our free institutions. His early struggles for 
an education, his self-support, his 'lack of means,' his 
youthful yearnings, find a prototype in every city, 
village and hamlet of the land. They did not retard 
his progress, but spurred him on to higher and nobler 
endeavor. His push and perseverance, his direct and 
undeviating life purpose, his sturdy integrity, his 
Christian character, were rewarded with large results 
and exceptional honors — honors not attainable any- 
where else and only to be acquired under the generous 
and helpful influences of a free government. 

"He was twenty-three years of age when he con- 



128 Life-work of William McKinley 

fronted the practical duties and the wider problems of 
life. All before had been training and preparation, the 
best of both, and his mar\'elous career ended before 
he was fifty. Few have crowded such great results and 
acquired such lasting fame in so short a life. Few 
have done so much for country and for civilization as 
he whom we honor to-da3% stricken down as he was 
when scarce at the meridian of his powers. He did 
not flash forth as a meteor; he rose with measured and 
stately step over rough paths and through years of 
rugged work. He. earned his passage to every prefer- 
ment. He was tried and tested at every step in his 
pathwa}^ of progress. He produced his passport at 
every gateway to opportunity and glory. 

"His broad and bene\'olent nature made him the 
friend of all mankind. He lo\-ed the young men of 
the country and drew them to him by the thoughtful 
concern with which he regarded them. He was 
generous in his helpfulness to all, and to his encour- 
agement and words of cheer many are indebted for 
much of their success in life. In personal character 
he was clean and without reproach. As a citizen he 
loved his country and her institutions and was proud 
of her progress and prosperity. As a scholar and man 
of letters he took high rank. As an orator he was 
exceptionally strong and gifted. As a soldier he stood 
abreast with the bra\'est and best of the citizen soldiery 
of the Republic. As a legislator his most enduring 
testimonial will be found in the records of Congress 
and the statutes of his country. As President he dis- 
played moderation and wisdom with executive ability, 
which gave the highest assurance of a most successful 
and illustrious administration." 



CHAPTER XV 

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS 

One who knew President McKinley well and has 
written of him, said recently: 

"He is in build inclined to stockiness, with, indeed, 
a tendency to corpulency; but with all that he is of 
shapely stature and well proportioned. His head is 
well set on a stout neck and broad, well-defined 
shoulders. His chest is full, showing strong lung 
capacity. His legs are sturdy; he is, in fact, muscular 
all through. He is possessed of great physical force, 
and it has been said of him that had he gone into 
training when a young man, he would ha\-e made a 
champion wrestler." 

Observers have found William McKinley's personal 
characteristics difficult to describe because he had so 
few striking peculiarities and none of what may be 
called eccentricities of conduct. Neither in manner, 
dress, speech, nor habits did he differ from the aver- 
age American of education and refinement. 

He always dressed plainly but well, and lived as 
comfortably as his means would permit, but without 
the least ostentation. His habits were regular, but 
simple. He ate well, his digestion was always good, 
and until a rather severe attack of grip in his last win- 
ter he had not had a serious illness since boyhood. 
He was known to drink a glass of wine on occasion, 
but only as a matter of sociability, and never with any 
appearance of caring particularly whether he had it or 

129 



130 Life-work of William McKinley 

not. He liked a good cigar, and for years was a reg- 
ular and heavy smoker, but even in this his tastes were 
not fanciful. 

This very absence of marked peculiarities has led 
many to regard him as of rather negative character, 
as moved by the world rather than moving it. Yet it 
must be remembered that George Washington so 
impressed many of his contemporaries, and that it 
remained for history to discover the real force of the 
father of his country. 

William McKinley, while a good speaker, was also 
an excellent listener. He had the faculty of hearing 
a grievance and sending the aggrieved man away com- 
forted and reasonably contented although he had not 
obtained one of the things he sought. This ability to 
round corners and smooth away rough places caused 
him to be called a great compromiser. Yet none 
could ever affirm that he had compromised any ques- 
tion of principle, and even when he appeared to do so 
it was noted that in the final reckoning he had 
gained his end. 

A Model Husband. — The social tastes of Mr. and 
Mrs. McKinley were modest in the extreme, and as a 
rule were limited at home to little musicales in which 
the young friends entertained their host and hostess 
with vocal and instrumental selections. 

At the White House little modification was made 
in the mode of living of the McKinleys. The friends 
of their early married life were invariably received 
as freely as at Canton. Little evening musicales 
were arranged, and, no matter how busy the Presi- 
dent might have been, he always managed to steal 



Personal Characteristics 131 

a few minutes from official duties to come and sit 
with Mrs. McKinley for a short time. His own great- 
est pleasure in life seemed to be in making her 
happy; he never forgot to "cherish" her, as he prom- 
ised to do thirty years before. Their guests for the 
most part were friends from Ohio — usually nieces and 
nephews. 

One little duty which seemed to give all of the 
household pleasure was the sending of flowers to all 
the Washington hospitals at the, holidays. The hos- 
pitals at Canton were never forgotten, either, and per- 
sonal friends in Washington, Canton and Chicago were 
in frequent receipt of floral remembrances from the 
White House conservatories when a member of the 
family was confined by sickness. 

The great dread of the President in entering the 
White House were the drafts which were reported to 
sweep through the wide corridors and apartments. 
The day before his first inauguration he read aloud to 
a party of friends an article, declaring that Mrs. Mc- 
Kinley could not survive a year in such a domicile. 
There was a marked vein of sarcasm in his voice as he 
read the lines, but he evidently thought of the matter 
and instructed an architect to prepare plans by which 
the drafts might be obviated. This was successfully 
done, to the great relief of all who were cognizant of 
the real condition of his wife. Few social functions, 
aside from those demanded officially, have marked the 
four and a half years at the executive Mansion. The 
great thought seemed to be the avoidance of ostenta- 
tion and the preservation of the sweet domestic rela- 
tion which has endeared the McKinleys to all thinking 
people. 



132 Life-work of William McKinley 

A Good Sox. — William McKinley was a model hus- 
band, because he was a model son, who nex-er forgot" 
that everything he was his mother made him, and that 
she had the first claim on his fortune, his time, his 
affection and attention. 

She died before her illustrious son, but in his last 
will he left behind him a touching memorial to his own 
filial love for her. His will contains this clause: "J 
make the following charge upon all of my property, 
both real and personal: To pay my mother during her 
life one thousand dollars a year." 

It should not be lost sight of, that Mr. McKinley 
was a poor man, comparatively speaking, at the time 
he made his will, while his wife was comfortably pro- 
vided for and that he sought, above all, to secure his 
mother against any possible want. 

An incident is related to illustrate the simple faith 
the mother of the President reposed in her great son. 
It was on the evening of his first election to the Presi- 
dency. A party of friends were expressing their con- 
fidence in his election, when one, to guard against the 
possible disappointment of a defeat, said: 

"Of course, he may be beaten." 

Drawing herself to her full height, the devoted 
mother of this great man said simply, yet author- 
itatively: 

"It makes little difference. He will still be my 
son." 

And she would have been satisfied to have him as 
her own, without the honor of being Chief Magistrate. 

Tact ix Public Functioxs. — Notwithstanding the 
great simplicity of the home life and small social func- 



Personal Characteristics 133 

tions of the President's prixate household, the Ameri- 
can people have never had a President who more ably 
acquitted himself at those formal receptions and din- 
ners which the exalted position of the Presidency 
demand. Upon the occasion of brilliant of^cial din- 
ners, no amount of form or display was omitted that 
would add to the beauty and appropriateness of the 
occasion. 

Not even the polished Washington, who instituted 
many customs which prevail to this day, knew better 
or appreciated more, what the American people expect 
and admire in the President than did William McKin- 
ley. 

The manner in which the diplomatic guests were 
entertained and seated at table was often at the per- 
sonal suggestion of the President. He never failed to 
visit the dining room in company with j\Irs. McKinley 
before the guests arrived. Even at the last moment 
he has been known to change the location of some 
diplomat at table on account of a personal dislike or 
some small disparity of opinion that he knew existed 
as to the affairs of the countries represented. 

When some noted guest, the representative of a 
foreign nation, was to be entertained the President 
especially had as formal an array as possible with the 
somewhat limited facilities of the White House, that 
the true dignity of the position bestowed upon him by 
his countrymen might be appreciated. 

In meeting the public at receptions, again the sim- 
plicity, but great dignity, of the President, asserted 
itself, and while affable and agreeable, extending to 
all a wholesome, hospitable greeting, he never once 
lost his sense of the lofty station to which he had been 



134 Life-work of William McKinley 

exalted, and those who met him never forgot that he 
was the President. 

No Third Term. — President McKinley was renomi- 
nated at Philadelphia on June 21, 1900, and was 
re-elected on Nov. 6, the same year. 

In June, 1901, Senator Depew declared in an inter- 
view that it was his opinion that the country could not 
have too much of Mr. McKinley as President. Other 
men prominent in the Republican party indorsed the 
suggestion. The newspapers of the country took the 
matter up, and the proposition found many supporters. 

Mr. McKinley put a stop to all such talk by the fol- 
lowing statement, issued from the White House on 
June 10: 

"I regret that the suggestion of a third term has been 
made. I doubt whether I am called upon to give it 
notice. But there are now questions of the gravest im- 
portance before the administration and the country and 
their just consideration should not be prejudiced in the 
public mind by even the suspicion of the thought of a 
third term. In \-iew, therefore, of the reiteration of the 
suggestion of it, I will say now, once for all, express- 
ing a long settled conviction, that I not only am not 
and will not be a candidate for a third term, but would 
not accept a nomination for it if it were tendered me. 

"My only ambition is to serve through my second 
term to the acceptance of my countrymen, whose 
generous confidence I so deeply appreciate, and then, 
with them, to do my duty in the ranks of private 
citizenship. ' William McKinley. 

"Executive Mansion, 

Washington, D. C, June 10, 1901." 



Personal Characteristics 135 

His Good Heart and Klndly Nature. — President 
McKinley's personal charms and qualities as a man 
won the affection of the country. Dr. David J. Hill, 
Assistant Secretary of State, once remarked to a friend 
when Mr. McKinley's personality was under discus- 
sion, that if "the Lord had ever breathed the breath of 
life into a mere gracious and amiable man than Mr. 
McKinley, I have yet to find it out." 

Mr. McKinley is credited with having always acted 
in an amiable, courteous manner. If he ever had any 
feeling of injured dignity or ill temper, he never let it 
be discovered even by those nearest to him. Every- 
one who called at the White House came away 
pleasantly impressed, whether he was Republican, 
Democrat, Populist, Anti-Imperialist, or Socialist; a 
negro, a Chinese, or a Caucasian. It was not uncom- 
mon in former administrations for men of more or less 
prominence to come away from the White House say- 
ing rather unpleasant things about the treatment they 
had received. With McKinley it was different. 

In this personal equation doubtless lies a large share 
of his success, as a public man and party leader, in 
securing acceptance of the policies for which he stood. 
When before, it is frequently asked, has a President 
carried the House of Representatives in three Con- 
gresses in succession? When before has a President 
been in such perfect harmony with his cabinet, or 
sustained such friendly relations with the Senators that 
they have rejected none of his nominations for office, 
or that he in turn, has had to veto none of their bills? 
For this was substantially the situation. 

When the Secretary of the Anti-Imperialist League 
irst visited Washington the President came out of a 



136 Life-work of William _McKinley 

Cabinet meeting to receive him — a most unusual 
courtesy. Many a President who had been flattered as 
McKinley had been would have taken affront-at sonre 
of the utterances of the league, and, standing on his 
dignity, would have refused altogether to see its repre- 
sentative. One of McKinley's predecessors steadily 
refused to see during his term of ofifice an eminent 
doctor of divinity who several times called on public 
business, because he had as a preacher alluded to his 
alleged Sabbath breaking propensities. President 
Arthur, with all that graciousness of manner which has 
associated itself with his name, proved a hard master 
for the clerical force in his immediate employ. If he 
desired a letter or a paper from the files for any pur- 
pose, he could brook no delay, and was seemingly 
unwilling to grant that time might be necessary even 
for those who served a President. 

In fact, those who know the White House best, in 
its \'arious aspects toward the public, are able to relate 
a great many incidents showing considerable human 
nature on the part of the various Presidents who have 
occupied it, but of McKinley they ha\e nothing to 
relate but pleasant things, kindly acts and genial 
ways. He seemed never offended at those who had 
most severely criticised him. We read in the news- 
papers one day that Senator Tillman declared Mr. 
McKinley was gradually becoming a dictator, to the 
subversion of the old republic; the next day we read 
that Mr. Tillman went to the White House to ask for 
a small consulship for one of his constituents, and 
strange to relate, that, although an opposition Demo- 
crat, he readily obtained it. In fact, Tillman said once 
in a public way that in his opinion no finer gentleman 



Personal Characteristics 137 

from Washington's time to the present had ever occu- 
pied the Presidential chair. 

In the organization of the first Philippine commis- 
sion, one of the men j)rovisionally selected hastened to 
Washington to tell Mr. McKinley that he was not 
much of a believer in his expansion policy, and that, 
knowing this, Mr. McKinley would probably want 
somebody else to serve. "Quite the contrary," was 
the President's answer. "We need just the element 
of opinion on that commission which you represent. 
I am glad that you feel as you do about it." Another 
man whom Mr. McKinley was about to appoint to a 
high office expressed in the same way his skepticism 
on the subject of protection, as identified with Mr. 
McKinley's name. In the same spirit, Mr. McKinley 
assured him that the view of the case which he held 
was the very one which the President was eager to 
have represented. • 

Judge of Human Nature. — He was so capable of 
seeing both sides of questions, to recognize personal 
and local limitations, that his relations with the world 
and with the American public were wonderfully 
pleasant. It will be recalled how enthusiastic the 
Democratic South became when on his visit to that 
section he allowed a Confederate badge, pinned play- 
fully on the lapel of his coat, to remain there all day, 
and how he recommended that the Federal government 
join with the Southern States in the care of the ceme- 
teries in which were buried the Confederate dead. 
Wherever he went. North, East, West, or South, he fell 
in so acceptably with the prevailing views and aspira- 
tions of the people as to win their most marked favor. 



138 Life-work of William McKinley 

Mr. McKinley, more than any one of his predeces- 
sors, possessed the happy faculty of taking the public 
into his confidence when solving the nation's problems, 
or as it has been expressed, he held his ear close to the 
ground listening to the voice of the people. At 
times he seemed to make haste slowly, for which he was 
often criticised by some of his party and political 
opponents, but when these important questions came 
to an issue, or rather when they developed, it was 
invariably proved that he had weighed all the facts 
carefully and that his judgment was correct, and those 
who found fault at the start had to acknowledge his 
superior wisdom. 

His knowledge of public men and their fitness for 
office enabled him to surround himself with the best 
and most competent advisers, regardless of party or 
section of the country. To show the careful manner 
in which our Executive proceeded, it is only necessary 
to cite the numerous instances, in which he sent his 
Commissioners or Envoys to the various distant points 
of the globe where American interests were at stake, 
Cuba, Porto Rico, the Philippine Islands, China, the 
Hawaiian and Samoan Islands, etc. These Commis- 
sioners were instructed to investigate on the spot all 
the conditions and circumstances of the questions to 
be solved, always keeping in close touch with Wash- 
ington, in order to prepare the way for the committees 
sent out afterwards, or the other proper authorities, to 
arrive at a decision that would be within the American 
spirit of liberty, advantageous to our country and just 
to the world 



CHAPTER XVI 

RECIPROCITY SPEECH AT BUFFALO 

President's Day at the Pan-American Exposition, 
September 5th, 1901, ran its course under very auspi- 
cious conditions, and was attended with every circum- 
stance in keeping with its high import. President 
McKinley, with Mrs. McKinley by his side and sur- 
rounded by eminent persons of high official rank in the 
service of this and foreign countries, faced a vast 
throng of people in the "Esplanade" at noon, and 
delivered an address that brought forth the thunderous 
applause of the multitude. 

Never before had such a crowd gathered within the 
Exposition grounds. The people were packed in the 
Esplanade to the point of suffocation and overflowed 
down the court of fountains and to the vacant spaces 
in front of the Government buildings at the right and 
the Horticultural building to the left. 

There was almost absolute quiet when President Mil- 
burn arose and introduced the President. The great 
audience then gave a mighty cheer, and for several 
minutes he was unable to proceed. When quiet was 
restored, the President spoke as follows: 

The Address. — "President Milburn, Director-Gen- 
eral Buchanan, Commissioners, Ladies and Gentlemen: 
I am glad to be again in the City of Buffalo and 
exchange greetings with her people, to whose gener- 
ous hospitality I am not a stranger, and with whose 
good will I have been repeatedly and signally honored. 

139 



140 Life-work of William McKinley 

"To-day I have additional satisfaction in meeting 
and giving welcome to the foreign representatives 
assembled here, whose presence and participation in 
this exposition ha\-e contributed in so marked a degree 
to its interests and success. To the comissioners of 
the Dominion of Canada and the British colonies, the 



ESPLANADE WHERE McKINLEY MADE HIS FAMOUS SPEECH 
ON SEPT. 5, 1901 

French colonies, the republics of Mexico and of Cen- 
tral and South America and the commissioners of Cuba 
and Puerto Rico, who share with us in this undertak- 
ing, we give the hand of fellowship and felicitate 
with them upon the triumphs of art, science, education 
and manufacture which the old has bequeathed to the 
new century. 



Reciprocity Speech at Buffalo 141 

"Expositions are the timekeepers of progress. 
They record the world's advancement. They stimu- 
late the energy, enterprise and intellect of the people 
and quicken human genius. They go into the home. 
They broaden and brighten the daily life of the people. 
They open mighty storehouses of information to the 
student. 

Benefit in Expositions. — "Every exposition, great 
or small, has helped to some onward step. Compari- 
son of ideas is always educational, and as such 
instructs the brain and hand of man. Friendly rivalry 
follows, which is the spur to industrial improvement, 
the inspiration to useful invention and to high 
endeavor in all departments of human activit}'. It 
exacts a study of the wants, comforts, and even the 
whims of the people and recognizes the efficacy of high 
quality and low prices to win their favor. 

"The quest for trade is an incentive to men of busi- 
ness to devise, invent, improve and economize in the 
cost of production. Business life, whether among our- 
selves or with other people, is ever a sharp struggle 
for success. It will be none the less so in the future. 
Without competition we would be clinging to the 
clumsy and antiquated processes of farming and manu- 
facture and the methods of business of long ago, and 
the twentieth would be no further ad\-anced than the 
eighteenth century. But though commercial com- 
petitors we are, commercial enemies we must not be. 

"The Pan-American Exposition has done its work 
thoroughly, presenting in its exhibits evidences of the 
highest skill and illustrating the progress of the human 
family in the western hemisphere. This portion of the 



Reciprocity Speech at Buffalo 143 

earth has no cause for humiliation for the part it has 
performed in the march of civilization. It has not 
accomplished everything; far from it. It has simply- 
done its best, and without vanity or boastfulness and 
recognizing- the manifold achie\'ements of others, it 
invites the friendly rivalry of all the powers in the 
peaceful pursuits of trade and commerce, and will 
co-operate with all in advancing the highest and best 
interests of humanity. 

Annihilation of Space. — "The wisdom and energy 
of all the nations are none too great for the world's 
work. The success of art, science, industry and inven- 
tion is an international asset and a common glory. 
After all, how near one to the other is every part of the 
world. Modern inventions have brought into close 
relation widely separated peoples, and made them 
better acquainted. Geographic and political divisions 
will continue to exist, but distances have been effaced. 

"Swift ships and fast trains are becoming cosmo- 
politan. They invade fields which a few years ago 
were impenetrable. The world's products are 
exchanged as never before, and with increasing trans- 
portation facilities come increasing knowledge and 
trade. Prices are fixed with mathematical precision 
by supply and demand. The world's selling prices are 
regulated by market and crop reports. We travel 
greater distances in a shorter space of time and with 
more ease than was ever dreamed of by our fathers. 

"Isolation is no longer possible or desirable. The 
same important news is read, though in different lan- 
guages, the same day in all Christendom. The tele- 
graph keeps us advised of what is occurring every- 



144 Life-work of William McKinley 

where, and the press foreshadows, with more or less 
accuracy, the plans and purposes of the nations. Mar- 
ket prices of products and of securities are hourly 
known in every commercial mart, and the investments 
of the people extend beyond their own national bound- 
aries into the remotest parts of the earth. Vast 
transactions are conducted and international exchanges 
are made by the tick of the cable. E\'ery event of 
interest is immediately bulletined. 

"The quick gathering and transmission of news, like 
rapid transit, are of recent origin, and are only made 
possible by the genius of the inventor and the courage 
of the investor. It took a special messenger of the 
government, with every facility known at the time for 
rapid travel, nineteen days to go from the City of 
Washington to New Orleans with a message to Gen- 
eral Jackson that the war with England had ceased and 
a treaty of peace had been signed. 

"How different now! We reached General Miles in 
Porto Rico by cable, and he was able through the 
military telegraph to stop his army on the firing line 
with the message that the United States and Spain 
had signed a protocol suspending hostilities. We 
knew almost instantly of the first shots fired at Santi- 
ago, and the subsequent surrender of the Spanisli 
forces was known at Washington within less than an 
hour of its consummation. The first ship of Cervera's 
fleet had hardly emerged from that historic harbor 
when the fact was flashed to our capital and the swift 
destruction that followed was announced immediately 
through the wonderful medium of telegraphy. 

"So accustomed are we to safe and easy communica- 
tion with distant lands that its temporary interruption, 



Reciprocity Speech at Buffalo 145 

even in ordinary times, results in loss and incon\'en- 
ience. We shall never forget the days of anxious wait- 
ing and awful suspense when no information was 
permitted to be sent from Peking, and the diplomatic 
representatives of the nations in China, cut off from 
all communication inside and outside of the walled 
capital, were surrounded by an angry and misguided 
mob that threatened their lives; nor the joy that 
thrilled the world when a single message to the 
government of the United States brought through our 
minister the first news of the safety of the besieged 
diplomats. 

"At the beginning of the nineteenth century there 
was not a mile of steam railroad on the globe. Now 
there are enough miles to make its circuit many times. 
Then there was not a line of electric telegraph; now 
we have a vast mileage traversing all lands and seas. 

"God and man have linked the nations together. 
No nation can longer be indifferent to any other. 
And as we are brought more and more in touch with 
each other the less occasion is there for misunder- 
standings and the stronger the disposition, when we 
have differences, to adjust them in the court of arbi- 
tration, which is the noblest forum for the settlement 
of international disputes. 

Prosperity of the Nation. — "My fellow citizens, 
trade statistics indicate that this country is in a state 
of unexampled prosperity. The figures are almost 
appalling. They show that we are utilizing our fields 
and forests and mines and that we are furnishing 
profitable employment to the millions of workingmen 
throughout the United States, bringing comfort and 



146 Life-work of William McKinley 

happiness to their homes and making it possible to lay 
by savings for old age and disability. 

"That all the people are participating in this great 
prosperity is seen in every American community and 
shown by the enormous and unprecedented deposits in 
our savings banks. Our duty is the care and security 
of these deposits, and their safe investment demands 
the highest integrity and the best business capacity of 
those in charge of these depositories of the people's 
earnings. 

"We have a vast and intricate business, built up 
through years of toil and struggle, in which every part 
of the country has its stake, which will not permit of 
either neglect or of undue selfishness. No narrow, 
sordid policy will subserve it. The greatest skill and 
wisdom on the part of the manufacturers and producers 
will be required to hold and increase it. Our indus- 
trial enterprises, which have ^rown to such great pro- 
portions, affect the homes and occupations of the 
people and the welfare of the country. Our capacity 
to produce has developed so enormously and our 
products have so multiplied that the problem of more 
markets requires our urgent and immediate attention. 

Broad Policy. — "Only a broad and enlightened 
policy will keep what we have. No other policy will 
get more. In these times of marvelous business 
energy and gain we ought to be looking to the future, 
strengthening the weak places in our industrial and 
commercial systems, so that we may be ready for any 
storm or strain. 

"By sensible trade arrangements which will not 
interrupt our home production we shall extend the 



Reciprocity Speech at Buffalo 147 

outlets for our increasing surplus. A system which 
provides a mutual exchange of commodities is mani- 
festly essential to the continued healthful growth of 
our export trade. We must not repose in fancied 
security that we can forever sell everything and buy 
little or nothing. If such a thing were possible it 
would not be best for us or for those with whom we 
deal. We should take from our customers such of 
their products as we can use without harm to our 
industries and labor. 

"Reciprocity is the natural outgrowth of our wonder- 
ful industrial development under the domestic policy 
now firmly established. What we produce beyond our 
domestic consumption must have a vent abroad. The 
excess must be relieved through a foreign outlet, and 
we should sell everywhere we can and buy wherever 
the buying will enlarge our sales and productions, and 
thereby make a greater demand for home labor. 

Expansion and Reciprocity. — "The period 
of exclusiveness is past. The expansion of our trade 
and commerce is the pressing problem. Commercial 
wars are unprofitable. A policy of good will and 
friendly trade relations will prevent reprisals. 
Reciprocity treaties are in harmony with the spirit of 
the times; measures of retaliation are not. If per- 
chance some of our tariffs are no longer needed for 
revenue or to encourage and protect our industries at 
home, why should they not be employed to extend and 
promote our markets abroad? 

"Then, too, we have inadequate steamship service. 
New lines of steamers have already been put in com- 
mission between the Pacific coast ports of the United 



V 



148 Life-work of William McKinley 

States and those on the western coasts of Mexico and 
Central and South America. These should be fol- 
lowed up with direct steamship lines between the 
eastern coast of the United States and South American 
ports. One of the needs of the times is direct com- 
mercial lines from our vast fields of production to the 
fields of consumption that we have but barely touched. 
Next in advantage to having the thing to sell is to 
have the convenience to carry it to the buyer. 

"We must encourage our merchant marine. We 
must have more ships. They must be under the 
American flag, built and manned and owned by 
Americans. These will not' be profitable in a com- 
mercial sense; they will be messengers of peace and 
amity wherever they go. 

"We must build the Isthmian canal, which will unite 
the two oceans and give a straight line of water com- 
munication with the western coasts of Centrc\l America, 
South America and Mexico. The construction of a 
Pacific cable cannot be longer postponed. 

Credit Due Blaine. — "In the furtherance of these 
objects of national interest and concern you are per- 
forming an important part. This exposition would 
have touched the heart of that American statesman 
whose mind was ever alert and thought ever constant 
for a larger commerce and a truer fraternity of the 
republics of the new world. His broad American 
spirit is felt and manifested here. He needs no identi- 
fication to an assemblage of Americans anywhere, for 
the name of Blaine is inseparably associated with the 
Pan-American movement, which finds this practical 
and substantial expression, and which we all hope will 



Reciprocity Speech at Buffalo 149 

be firmly advanced In' the ran-American congress that 
assembles this autumn in the capital of Mexico. 

Conclusion. — "The good work will go on. It can- 
not be stopped. These buildings will disappear, this 
creation of art and beauty and industry will perish 
from sight, but their influence will remain to 

"Make it live beyond its too short living 
With praises and thanksgiving. 

"Who can tell the new thoughts that have been 
awakened, the ambitions fired and the high achieve- 
ments that will be wrought through this exposition? 

"Gentlemen, let us ever remember that our interest 
is in concord, not conflict, and that our real eminence 
rests in the victories of peace, not those of war. We 
hope that all who are represented here may be moved 
to higher and nobler effort for their own and the 
world's good, and that out of this city may come not 
only greater commerce and trade for us all, but, more 
essential than these, relations of mutual respect, confi- 
dence and friendship which will deepen and endure. 

"Our earnest prayer is that God will graciously 
vouchsafe prosperity, happiness and peace to all our 
neighbors and like blessings to all the peoples and 
powers of earth." 

President McKinley's speech v/as frequently inter- 
rupted with applause. When he referred to the estab- 
lishment of reciprocal treaties with other countries, 
the necessity for the American people building an 
Isthmian canal and a Pacific cable, and his reference 
to the work of Blaine in developing the Pan-American 
idea, the cheers were especially enthusiastic. Upon 



150 Life-work of William McKinley 

the conclusion of his address a large number of people 
broke through the lines around the stand, and the 
President held an impromptu reception for fifteen 
minutes, shaking hands with thousands. 

This admirable address has been endorsed by the 
world as a masterpiece, and shows the wonderful grasp 
he had upon public affairs. 

In connection with this speech a strange coincidence 
forces itself upon the thoughtful patriot. If Mr. 
McKinley had known that his now famous speech at 
Buffalo on the 5th of Sept. would be his last public 
utterance it could not have been more timely and to 
the point. 

So, also, Mr. Roosevelt's speech delivered at Minne- 
apolis, on Sept. 2, 1901, now seems like a forecast of 
coming events. It contains the following points: 

"We must continue the policy that has been so bril- 
liantly successful in the past, and so shape our eco- 
nomic system as to give every advantage to the skill, 
energy, and intelligence of our farmers, merchants, 
manufacturers, and wage-workers; , and yet we must 
also remember, in dealing with other nations, that 
benefits must be given when benefits are sought. 
Through treaty or by direct legislation it may, 
at least in certain cases, become advantageous to sup- 
plement our present policy by a system of reciprocal 
benefit and obligation. 

"Throughout a large part of our national career our 
history has been one of expansion, the expansion being 
of different kinds at different times. This expansion 
is not a matter of regret but of pride." 



CHAPTER XVII 

PRESIDENT McKINLEY ASSASSINATED 

The address of President McKinley breathing the 
spirit of the Master's words, "Peace on earth, good 
will to men," and praying that God would "graciously 
vouchsafe prosperity, happiness and peace to all our 
neighbors," was welcomed throughout the world as 
an earnest of a new era of peace and amity among the 
nations of the earth. 

The columns of European newspapers next morning 
were filled with favorable comment concerning its sig- 
nificance, and the entire press of our own country 
voiced the approval of the American people of the 
sublime utterances of their President. 

But on that very day when the whole world was 
devoting attention to the significant words of the 
President, like a thunder clap from a clear sky came 
the announcement: "President McKinley has been 
shot by an assassin." The shock was appalling. The 
people seemed stunned. There was a gleam of hope 
— the report might be a canard. But, alas, it was not. 
The news was confirmed. 

President McKinley was shot while holding a recep- 
tion in the Temple of Music at the Pan-American 
Exposition in Buffalo, at about 4 p. m., on September 
6, 1901. He had just begun to shake hands with the 
people who were filing in front of him. The great 
building was packed with people and at intervals 
cheers for the President went up. He had just patted 

151 



152 Life-work of William McKinley 

the head of a pretty child that had been lifted to him, 
had spoken a pleasant word to the child's mother, and 
was extending his hand to greet the next in line when 
two shots rang out. 




TEMPLE OF MUSIC IN WHICH McKINLEY WAS ASSASSINATED 

Immediately after the shots had been fired Secretary 
Cortelyou and President Milburn sprang to the Presi- 
dent's aid, while Detective Ireland and James B. 
Parker, a colored man, hurled themselves upon the 
assassin and attempted to disarm him. He struggled 
desperately and wrenching his arm free made a motion 
as if to fire a third shot when Detective Foster grabbed 
the pistol and wrenched it from his grasp. 



President McKinley Assassinated 153 

In another instant blows rained upon him from a 
dozen fists and clubs. He was covered with blood and 
would soon have been killed, had not the President 
prevented this by saying, "Let no one hurt him." 
These words undoubtedly saved the life of the assassin, 
to be disposed of according to law. 

Those who were back of the President saw a small, 
dark, well-dressed young man, with what seemed to be 
a bandage about his right hand, extend his left to the 
President, and as he reached to take it they saw a 
flash of fire through the supposed bandage and heard 
two reports of a pistol in rapid succession. They saw 
the outstretched hand of the President fall and the 
President drop back into the arms of those near him. 

Then there was a moment's pause, and the only 
action in the great chamber was the silent struggle in 
front of the wounded E.xecutive. 

Then a woman shrieked: 

"He has shot the President!" 

Confusion reigned supreme. 

But the confusion was only for a moment. The 
police awoke to the situation in an instant and in a 
solid phalanx wedged their way through the writhing 
crowd. Officials, detectives and plain people were 
tossed aside. A policeman got a hand on the collar 
of the President's assailant and jerked him from the 
rush of the people that were still about him. 

In another moment he was swallowed up in a solid 
block of policemen, upon which the surging weaves of 
frenzied people broke in vain. In this way the man 
was dragged out of the main hall and imprisoned in an 
adjoining room. 
• When the door of that room closed behind him, the 



154 Life-work of William McKinley 

crowd surged back to where the President was. A 
line of police had been thrown before him that kept 
people back, while his physician, who reached his side 
within three minutes of the time of the shooting, 
began hastily to investigate the President's condition. 

In the body of the hall there was terrible confusion. 
Women were fainting or falling into hysterics and 
were allowed to lie where they fell. There was one 
who shouted: "He's dead! He's dead! He's dead! 
Oh, my God!" 

It was only a hysterical woman's cry, but the crowd 
took it to be inspired and in a moment a thousand 
people had echoed it. 

A level-headed policeman of those about the Presi- 
dent realized where that cry might lead the crowd, and 
answered it: 

"No," shouted this giant, with a voice like a clap of 
thunder, "the doctor says he'll live." 

That stilled the excitement and checked the riot. 
There was intense silence while the little knot of men 
bent over the President, and the doctor did the simple 
things that were required in advance of the surgical 
operations that were to be performed. 

Both bullets had struck the President, one in the 
center of the breast and the other in the pit of the 
stomach. 

When the President was shot, he fell into the arms 
of Detective Gerry, whom he coolly asked: "Am I 
shot?" 

Gerry unbuttoned the President's vest, and, seeing 
blood, replied: "I fear you are, Mr. President." 

No time was lost in getting the President to the 
emergency hospital of the Exposition. 



President McKinley Assassinated 155 

Fully 30,000 persons were in the grounds about the 
hospital, but the police made a way and soon had the 
wounded President within the building. Then they 
forced the crowd back in order that their noise should 
not disturb the sufferer. 

After a consultation the doctors decided that it was 
possible to remove the President without adding to his 
danger. An automobile ambulance was summoned 
and the President was taken to the home of President 
Milburn, in Delaware avenue. The transit was made 
very slowly in order to spare the patient as much as 
possible and the streets were cleared for its passage. 

Huge crowds lined the sidewalks, but in obedience 
to the uplifted hand of the police guard remained 
absolutely silent as the automobile rolled along. 

The sad task of breaking the news to Mrs. McKinley 
devolved upon Dr. Rixey. "The President has met 
with an accident — he has been hurt," were the first 
words he said to her. "Tell me all — keep nothing 
from me," cried Mrs. McKinley, "I will be brave for 
his sake." Then Dr. Rixey told her the terrible truth. 

The Assassin. — After his removal to a corner of the 
temple and imprisonment in an adjoining room the 
President's assailant was searched, but nothing was 
found upon him except a letter relating to a lodging. 
This, however, served to establish his identity. The 
officers washed the blood from his face and asked him 
who he was and why he had shot the President. He 
made no reply at first but finally gave the name of Fred 
Nieman, and said: "I am an anarchist, and I did my 
duty." Subsequently, however, he admitted his iden- 
tity as Leon F. Czolgosz, and said that he had been 



156 Life-work of William McKinley 

following the President for three days with the idea 
of killing him. When he read that the President was 
to attend a public celebration on Sept. 6, he decided 
that this was the opportunity for assassination, and 
accordingly \vent that morning and bought the 
revolver. 

Czolgosz said he belonged to the society of Knights 
of the Golden Eagle, a socialistic organization, and 
that he believed in the doctrines advocated by Emma 
Goldman. He expressed no regret for his crime, but 
manifested great curiosity as to the condition of the 
President. Czolgosz said he had seen a great deal of 
the President since his arri\-al in this city. He fol- 
lowed the President's party to Niagara P'alls. 

He said he entered the Temple of Music with the 
revolver in his coat pocket. He stepped to one side 
of the entrance and then arranged the handkerchief 
over his hand. In this way he held the revolver out 
of sight and had a good chance to shoot straight. He 
declared emphatically that he had no accomplice. 

"I was all alone in this," he said in a statement, 
"and no one else was responsible for any part of it. 
I meant to kill the President. I alone made the 
plans and executed them." 

He denied strenuously that the attempt on the life 
of the President was a result of a preconcerted plot on 
the part of any anarchist society. 

The prisoner was strangely cool and indifferent. 
He killed his victim apparently without any emotion. 
and certainly without any clear motive or idea as to 
the benefits to the cause of anarchy to be obtained by 
his crime, which he committed simply because he had 
been taught that it was the vocation of an anarchist 
to destroy the head of the government. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

THE PRESIDENT'S FIGHT FOR LIFE 

Dr. \V. D. Storer, of Chicago, who was one of the 
physicians called to assist in the delicate surgical 
operation performed on the President in the emer- 
gency hospital, gives the following lucid account of 
the treatment: 

"When I arrived at the hospital the President was 
there lying on a table. There were perhaps a dozen 
physicians about him. This was not more than ten 
minutes after the shots had been fired. The President 
was perfectly calm and collected. He did not utter 
a word of complaint. When asked if there was any 
pain he replied: 

" 'Just a little.' 

"I never saw anyone exhibit such great fortitude 
under similar circumstances. 

First Consultation. — "Perhaps thirty minutes after 
the President was carried into the hospital Dr. Mann 
arrived. In the meantime we gave him sedatives to 
prevent evil effects from shock. A hurried consultation 
was held, and all the physicians present agreed that 
time was the vital issue and that an operation was nec- 
essary. The X-ray was talked of to assist in locating 
the bullets, but we decided that the experiment would 
consume a great deal of time, and after all it probably 
would be necessary to operate. 

"The external opening in the abdomen indicated 

157 



15S Life-work of William McKinley 

that the ball that penetrated there had gone into the 
stomach, and that is why an operation was considered 
unavoidable. 

"When the President was informed of our decision 
he did not utter a word of protest, but said simply: 
'Very well; go ahead, gentlemen.' 



The Operation. — "After the President had been 




DR. MATTHEW D. MANN, WHO PERFORMED THE OPERATION 
ON THE PRESIDENT. 

stripped and placed on the table, the usual antiseptic 
precautions observed, and the anesthetic administered, 
a five-inch vertical incision was made, exposing the 
stomach and showing in the anterior wall around, per- 
forating hole large enough to admit the thumb. This 
wound was thoroughly washed and the hole carefully 
sutured with silk thread. 

"The bullet that caused this wound entered the 



Fight for Life 159 

abdomen five inches below the loft nipple and two 
inches to the left of the median line, and it was neces- 
sary, after closing the hole in the anterior wall of the 
stomach, to trace the course of the ball. The stomach 
was turned over, and a similar hole was found in the 
posterior wall. This was closed carefully, the same 
method being employed as in the first instance. 

"A careful examination was then made for traces of 
hemorrhage. We found that little blood had been lost. 
After spending a short time trying to discover 
whether the ball had lodged in a vital tissue the con- 
clusion was reached that it had not, and it was deemed 
inadvisable to spend more time searching for it. 

"The abdominal cavity was then washed out and 
cleansed thoroughly. No drainage tubes were used, 
as the washing out of the cavity made them unneces- 
sary. The stomach was found to be quite full and some 
of the contents escaping, so steps were taken at the 
beginning of the operation to prevent further leakage. 

First Bullet in Clothing. — "After the cleansing 
process had been thoroughly gone through the exte- 
rior opening was closed and carefully dressed. The 
wound in the President's breast was not at all serious. 
The bullet struck the top button of his vest and glanced 
off, plowing its way under the skin. We found the 
ball in his underclothing when he was undressed for 
the operation. 

"The President was on the operating table about an 
hour and a quarter and he did not once come out from 
under the influence of the anesthetic administered. 
When the operation was begun his pulse showed 84 
and at the finish had gone up to 130. He was still 



160 Life-work of William McKinley 

under the influence of ether when he was removed to 
Mr. Milburn's house. 

"When I first saw him at the hospital I was fearful 
of the result of his wounds, and felt that if he recov- 
ered his life must be credited to modern advanced sur- 
gery and the fact that the operation was resorted to 
without delay- 

"Dr. Mann did all the operating and his employ- 
ment of the knife was neat and clean, and conservative. 

"It was one of the most remarkable operations I have 
ever participated in. The President stood it well, vet 
it was a pitiful sight to see him there on the operating 
table as white as a sheet, but with an expression of 
absolute calm on his face. 

"When the President was carried out of the hospital, 
after the operation, there were fully 75,000 persons 
gathered about the entrance, yet you couldn't hear a 
sound, and e\-ery man took off liis hat. P^ive minutes 
after the shot was fired the Midway, which is the 
noisiest place I ever visited, was closed, and flags on 
all places of amusement were at half mast. 

"I never will forget the bra\-ery and fortitude dis- 
played by the President throughout the awful ordeal. 
The only wish he expressed was that the news of the 
shooting be kept from Mrs. McKinley. He did not 
utter a single word of complaint or protest, and when 
informed that an operation was necessary he did not 
argue the matter, but ad\'ised the physicians to pro- 
ceed." 

A Week of Hope and Despair. — For a week the 
whole civilized world hoped and prayed for the Presi- 
dent's recovery. The millions of all enlightened lands 



Fight for Life iGl 



'to 



turned to the bulletins to search for the welcome 
assurance that danger had passed. 

The reports of the physicians, hopeful from the first 
day after the operation, became more and more prom- 
ising". The deep gloom that had settled over the 
nation at the first shocking news of the beloved chief's 
peril, began to vanish and soon the official bulletins 
declaring the President out of danger, created joy and 
happiness in every true American heart. But this was 
not to last. Below the healing exterior wound gan- 
grene had set in and its deadly effect soon became evi- 
dent. All the millions of prayers of a loving people 
had been in vain, the noble life could not be saved. 
On Saturday morning, Sept. 14th, at 2:15 o'clock, the 
ideal American statesman and ruler ceased to be 
among the li\-ing. 

The Last Hours. — The death of President McKin- 
ley came under circumstances of peculiar weirdness. 
For hours he had lain unconscious with all hope of 
his survix'al abandoned. As early as six o'clock the 
evening before, the doctors had pronounced him a 
dying man, and soon thereafter the rigor of approach- 
ing death began to creep upon him. The administra- 
tion of powerful stimulants was maintained until 7 
o'clock that e\'ening, but with no effect. 

Parting with Wife. — It was seen that the end was 
near at hand, and those nearest and dearest to the 
stricken president were summoned for the offices of 
the last farewell. 

He came out of a stupor about 7 o'clock, and while 
his mind was partially clear there occurred the last 



162 Life-work of William McKinley 

endearments, the last submission of the sufferer to the 
will of the Almighty, the last-murmured expressions 
from his dying lips and the last good-byes. 

In this interval of consciousness Mrs. McKinley was 
brought into the death chamber. The president had 
asked to see her. She came and sat beside him, held 
his hand and heard from him his last words of encour- 
agement and comfort. 

Then she was led away and not again during his liv- 
ing hours did she see him. 

The President himself fully realized that his hour 
had come and his mind turned to his Maker. He 
whispered feebly, "Nearer, my God, to Thee," the 
words of the hymn always dear to his heart. Then in 
faint accents he murmured "Good-bye, all, good-bye. 
It is God's way. His will be done, not ours." 

With this sublime display of Christian fortitude the 
President soon after lapsed into unconsciousness. 

Last Look by His Cabinet. — The members of the 
cabinet, grief-stricken, were gathered in the large 
drawing room of the Milburn house. The time had 
come when they, too, were to look upon the President 
for the last time in life. 

They ascended the stairway, one after the other, 
noiselessly approaching the threshold of the chamber 
where the dying man lay,, and gazed within. Those 
who came first turned back appalled and overwhelmed 
and did not pass within the chamber. 

Secretary Wilson remained below, unwilling to have 
imprinted on his memory the picture of his expiring 
chief. Secretary Long, who arrived on a late train, 
went at once to the chamber and passed directly to the 



Fight for Life 163 



'b> 



bedside of the President, grasping the hand that was 
already clammy with approaching death 

Dying Slowly. — Meantime the President had lapsed 
into a state of complete unconsciousness, and it was 
only a question of hours, perhaps minutes, when the 
end would come. By lo o'clock there was no per- 
ceptible pulse. The extremities had grown cold and 
the rigidity of death was fast falling upon the sufferer. 
The physicians who remained at his side detected 
only the faintest heart beats. 

Some of them, knowing that all was over, departed, 
while others remained, not because there was any 
further need for their ministrations, but because of 
respect for the expiring President. 

Dr. Janeway, the eminent heart specialist, who had 
been summoned from New York, arrived shortly before 
midnight and proceeded at once to the bedside of the 
President. An instant's glance told him the time had 
passed for the. slightest hope. He turned away, tell- 
ing the assembled relatives and officials that the end 
was very near. 

Hopeless Fight with Death. — Midnight came and 
still the tremendous vitality of the President was bat- 
tling against dissolution. Another hour passed so and 
still another. At 2 o'clock Dr. Rixey was the only 
physician in the death chamber. The others were in 
an adjoining room, while the relatives; cabinet officers 
and nearest friends were gathered in silent groups in 
the apartments below. 

The Peaceful End.— As he watched and waited 
Dr. Rixey observed a slight, convulsive tremor. The 



164 Life-work of William McKinley 

President was entering- the valley of the shadow of 
death. 

Word was at once taken to the immediate relatives, 
who were not present, to hasten for the last look upon 
the President in life. They came in groups, the 
women weeping and the men bowed and pale with 
their intense grief. 

Grouped about the bedside at this final moment 
were the only brother of the President, Abner McKin- 
ley, and his wife; Miss Helen McKinley and Mrs. 
Sara Duncan, sisters of the President; Miss Mary Bar- 
ber, niece; Miss Sara Duncan, niece; Lieut. James F. 
McKinley, William M. Duncan and John Barber, 
nephews; F. M. Osborne, a cousin; Secretary George 
B-. Cortelyou, Charles G. Dawes, comptroller of the 
currency; Col. Webb C. Hayes and Col. William C. 
Brown. 

With these directly and indirectly connected with 
the family were those others who had kept ceaseless 
vigil — the white-garbed nurses and the uniformed 
marine hospital attendants. In the adjoining room 
were Drs. Charles McBurney, Eugene Wasdin, Ros- 
well Park, Charles G. Stockton and Herman Mynter. 

It was 2:15 o'clock. 

Silent and motionless, the circle of loving friends 
stood about the bedside. 

Dr. Rixey leaned forward and placed his ear close 
to the breast of the expiring President. Then he 
straightened up and made an effort to speak. 

"The President is dead," he said. 

The President had passed away peacefully, without 
the convulsive struggle of death. It was as though he 
had fallen asleep. As they gazed on the face of the 



Fight for Life 165 

martyred President, the sobs of the mourners only 
broke the silence in this chamber of death. 



No hero on the battlefield showed more bravery than 
this poor suffering man displayed in his struggle for 
life. He fought in vain, but he died as he had lived, 
a faithful friend, a devoted husband, an affectionate 
son, a loyal patriot and a true Christian. The angel 
of death took away one who, during his whole life, 
was one of the most brilliant examples of American 
youth and manhood. 



The news that the end had come at last, was quickly 
communicated to the world. It is true during the 
last twenty-four hours there had been no chance of 
recovery, but, nevertheless, thousands of anxious 
hearts were watching, that night, hoping against hope, 
unable to resign themselves to the inevitable. Nor 
was the feeling confined to our own people. In every 
civilized country the interest in the developments at 
Buffalo was intense, both because of the President's 
well-known sterling character and our nation's deep 
sorrow. 

The following poem by Hiram E. Howell, of Man- 
chester, England, is a striking demonstration of the 
deep sympathy among foreigners with our nation in 
its bereavement. It was written on the day of McKin- 
ley's death and sent to the New York Sun. 



1G6 Life-work of William McKinley 



IN SORROW'S HOUR 

So Vice is Victor! Lowly lies the head 

That bore, uncrowned, the burden of the State; 
The hand that ruled, unsceptered, chill and dead, 

Moves men no more in council or debate 
The voice that swayed shall nevermore again 

Speak words of wisdom. Struck by dastard blow 
From one he harmed not, falls a king of men. 

And all the nations mourn Columbia's woe. 

What crime was his that thus the hand of hate — 

Held forth in Judas guise as that of friend 
In peaceful hour — should shatter hopes so great 

At one fell swoop? 'Twas this, that till the end 
He served his country, faithful, fast and true; 

With single eye her cause he daily sought. 
And when he saw what duty was to do 

He went and did it— with no selfish thought. 

And thus to fall ! The Anglo-Saxon race 

Indignant starts, and in just anger cries 
For vengeance stern. Such deed, done in such place 

Is crime against the Freedom that we prize 
Dearer than life— the Freedom that has nurst 

Within her hallowed breast a hellish brood. 
Whose fury turns and drives its fangs accurst 

To her own heart, in vipers' gratitude. 

"O, stricken Sister! in this hour of woe," 

Britannia whispers, ' 'be it ours to share. 
Our hearts are one, our flags together go. 

For Freedom we have dared, and yet will dare, 
Thy standard dropt another hand shall raise 

And bravely bear; while by McKinley's bier 
Yet closer bound, we'll front the future days 

For Freedom still, without a thought of fear. ' ' 



CHAPTER XIX 
EULOGIES OF McKINLEY 

PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT'S EUOLOGY 
[From his first message to Congress, Dec. 3, 1901.] 

At the time of President McKinley's death he was 
the most widely loved man in all the United States; 
while we have never had any public man of his posi- 
tion who has been so wholly free from the bitter 
animosities incident to public life. His political 
opponents were the first to bear the heartiest and most 
generous tribute to the broad kindliness of nature, the 
sweetness and gentleness of character which so 
endeared him to his close associates. To a standard 
of lofty integrity in public life he united the tender 
affections and home virtues which are all-important in 
the make-up of national character. A gallant soldier 
in the great war for the Union, he also shone as an 
example to all our people because of his conduct in the 
most sacred and intimate of home relations. There 
could be no personal hatred of him, for he never acted 
with aught but consideration for the welfare of others. 
No one could fail to respect him who knew him in 
public or private life. The defenders of those mur- 
derous criminals who seek to excuse their criminality 
by asserting that it is exercised for political ends, 
inveigh against wealth and irresponsible power. But 
for this assassination even this base apology cannot be 
urged. 

President McKinley was a man of moderate means, 
a man whose stock sprang from the sturdy tillers of 
the soil, who had himself belonged among the wage- 
workers, who had entered the army as a private soldier. 
Wealth was not struck at when the President was 
assassinated, but the honest toil which is content with 
moderate gains after a lifetime of unremitting labor 
largely in the service of the public. Still less was 

167 



168 Life-Work of William McKinley 

power struck at in the sense that power is irresponsible 
or centered in the hands of any one individual. The 
blow was not aimed at tyranny or wealth. It was 
aimed at one of the strongest champions the wage- 
worker has ever had; at one of the most faithftd rep- 
resentatives of the system of public rights and 
representative government who has ever risen to public 
office. 

. President McKinley filled that political office for 
which the entire people vote, and no President — not 
even Lincoln himself — was ever more earnestly anx- 
ious to represent the well thought-out wishes of the 
people; his one anxiety in every crisis was to keep in 
closest touch with the people — to find out what they 
thought and to endeavor to guide that thought aright. 
He had just been re-elected to the Presidency because 
the majority of our citizens, the majority of our farm- 
ers and wage-workers, believed that he had faithfully 
upheld their interests for four years. They felt them- 
selves in close and intimate touch with him. They 
felt that he represented so well and so honorably all 
their ideals and aspirations that they wished him to 
continue for another four j^ears to represent them. 

The shock, the grief of the country, are bitter in the 
minds of all who saw the dark days while the Presi- 
dent yet hovered between life and death. At last the 
light was stilled in the kindly eyes and the breath went 
from the lips that even in mortal agony uttered no 
words save of forgiveness to his murderer, of love for 
his friends and of unfaltering trust in the will of the 
Most High. Such a death, crowning the glory of 
such a life, leaves us with infinite sorrow, but with 
such pride in what he had accomplished and in his 
own personal character, that we feel the blow not as 
struck at him, but as struck at the nation. We mourn 
a good and great President who is dead; but while we 
mourn we are lifted up by the splendid achievements 
of his life and the grand heroism with which he met 
his death. 



Ex-President Cleveland's Eulogy 

"William McKinley has left us a priceless gift in the 
example of a useful and pure life, in his fidelity to 
public trusts and in his demonstration of the value of 
kindly virtues that not only ennoble but lead to success. 
"All the people loved their dead President. His 
kindly nature and lovable traits of character and his 
amiable consideration for all about him will long be in 
the minds and hearts of his countrymen. He loved them 
in return with such patriotism and unselfishness that in 
this hour of their grief he would say to them: 'It is 
God's will; I am content. If there is any lesson in my 
life or death, let it be taught to those who still have 
the destiny of their country in their keeping.' " 

Eulogy of Bishop Andrews 

From Funeral Address delivered at Washington, D. C, Sept. i6, igoi 

"His high qualities drew to him the good will of his 
associates in political life in an eminent degree. They 
believed in him, felt his kindness, confided in his hon- 
esty and in his honor. His qualities even associated 
with him in kindly relations those who were his politi- 
cal opponents. They made it possible for him to enter 
that land with which he, as one of the soldiers of the 
union, had been in some sort at war and to draw closer 
the tie that was to bind all the parts in one firmer and 
indissoluble union. They commanded the confidence 
of the great body of Congress, so that they listened to 
his plans and accepted kindly, and hopefully, and trust- 
fully, all his declarations." 

169 



Eulogy by Cardinal Gibbons 

FROM AN ADDRESS BY CARDINAL GIBBONS 
[Delivered at the Cathedral in Baltimore, Sept. 19, 1901.] 

" . . . . Few Presidents were better equipped than 
Mr. McKinley for the exalted position which he filled. 
When a mere youth he entered the Union army as a 
private soldier during the Civil war and was promoted 
for gallant service on the field of battle to the rank of 
major. He served his country for fourteen years in 
the halls of Congress and toward the close of his term 
he became one of the most conspicuous figures in that 
body. He afterward served his State as Governor. 

"As President he was thoroughly conversant with 
the duties of his ofifice and could enter into its most 
minute details. His characteristic virtues were cour- 
tesy and politeness, patience and forbearance and 
masterly self-control under very trying circumstances. 
When unable to grant a favor he had the rare and 
happy talent to disappoint the applicant without 
offending him. 

"The domestic virtues of Mr. McKinley were worthy 
of all praise. He was a model husband. Amid the 
pressing and engrossing duties of his official life, he 
would from time to time snatch a few moments to 
devote to the invalid and loving partner of his joys 
and sorrows. Oh, what a change has come over this 
afiflicted woman. Yesterday she was the first lady of 
the land. To-day she is a disconsolate and broken- 

170 



I 



Eulogy by Cardinal Gibbons 171 

hearted widow. Let us beseech Him who comforted 
the widow of Nain that He console this lady in her 
hour of desolation. 

"It is a sad reflection that some fanatic or miscreant 
has it in his power to take the life of the head of the 
nation and to throw the whole country into mourning. 
It was no doubt this thought that inspired some writers 
within the last few days to advise that the President 
should henceforth abstain from public receptions and 
handshaking and that greater protection should be 
given to his person. 

"You might have him surrounded with cohorts, 
defended with bayonets and have him followed by 
Argus-eyed detectives, and yet he would not be proof 
against the stroke of the assassin. Are not the 
crowned heads of Europe usually attended by military 
forces, and yet how many of them have perished at 
the hand of some criminal? No; let the President 
continue to move among his people and take them by 
the hand. The strongest shield of our chief magistrate 
is the love and devotion of his fellow citizens. 

"The most effective way to stop such crimes is to 
inspire the rising generation with greater reverence 
for the constituted authorities and a greater horror for 
any insult or injury to their person. All seditious lan- 
guage should be suppressed. Incendiary speech is too 
often an incentive to criminal acts on the part of many 
to whom the transition from words to deeds is easy. 

"Let it be understood, once for all, that the 
authorities are determined to crush the serpent of 
anarchy whenever it lifts its venomous head. 

"We have prayed for the President's life, but it did 
not please God to grant our petition. Let no one 



172 Life-work of William McKinley 

infer from this that our prayers were in vain. No 
fervent prayer ascending to the throne of heaven 
remains unanswered. Let no one say what a lady 
remarked to me on the occasion of President Garfield's 
death: 'I have prayed,' she said, 'for the President's 
life. My family ha\e prayed for him, our congre- 
gation prayed for him, the city prayed for him, 
the State prayed for him, the nation prayed for him 
and yet he died. What, then, is the use of prayer?' 
God answers our petitions cither directly or indi- 
rectly. If He does not grant us what we ask He 
gives us something equivalent or better. If He has 
not sa\ed the life of the President, He preserves the 
life of the nation, which is of more importance than 
the life of an indi\-idual. 

"He has infused into the hearts of the American 
people a greater reverence for the head of the nation, 
and a greater abhorrence of assassination. He has 
intensified and energized our lo\-e of country and our 
devotion to our political institutions. 

"What a beautiful spectacle to behold — prayers 
ascending from tens of thousands of temples through- 
out the land to the throne of mercy. Is not this uni- 
versal uplifting of minds and hearts to God a sublime 
profession of our faith and trust in Him? Is not this 
national appeal to heaven a most eloquent recognition 
of God s superintending pro^'idence over us? And 
such earnest and united prayers will not fail to draw 
down upon us the blessings of the Almighty " 



1 



CHAPTER XX 

COMPLETE CHRONOLOGY OF WILLIAM McKINLEY'S 
LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES 

1S43. 
Jan. 29 — William McKinley, son of William and 
Nancy (Allison) McKinley, was born at Niles, 
Trumbull county, O., the seventh of nine children. 
1852. 
The McKinley family removed to Poland, Mahoning 
county, Ohio, and William McKinley, Jr., attended 
public schools and studied in Poland academy. 
1858. 
United with Methodist Episcopal church in Poland. 

i860. 
Entered junior class in Allegheny College, Meadville, 

Pa., but gave up studies because of poor health. 
Taught a country school near Poland. 
Clerked in Poland post-ofHce. 

1861. 
June II — Enlisted as a private in Company E, Twenty- 
third Ohio volunteers. 
Sept. 10 — Participated in battle of Carnifex Ferry. 

1862. 
April 15 — Promoted to be commissary sergeant. 
May I — Fought at Clark's Hollow. 
May 15 — Fought at Princeton, W. Va. 
Sept. 14 — Fought in the battle of South Mountain. 

174 



Chronology, Life and Public Services 175 

Sept. 1/ — Participated in battle of Antietam, where he 
distinguished himself by serving meat and coffee 
under fire, something that had never been done 
before, and which prompted Col. Rutherford B. 
Hayes, afterward President of the United States, 
to recommend him for promotion. 

Sept. 23 — Promoted to be a second lieutenant in Com- 
pany D and assigned to staff of Colonel Hayes. 
1863. 

Feb. 7— Promoted to be first lieutenant of Company E. 

July 19 — Fought at Buffington's Island, Ohio, in the 
campaign against Morgan's raiders. 
1864. 

May 9 — Fought at Cloy's Mountain, and during that 
summer participated in numerous other engage- 
ments. 

Julv 24 — Rendered distinguished services at Winches- 
ter, Va. 

July 25 — Promoted to be captain of Company G, and 
detailed as acting assistant adjutant general of the 
First Division, First Army corps, on the staff of 
General Carroll. 

Sept. 3 — Fought at Berryville, Va., and during that 
same month participated in numerous other 
engagements. 

Oct. II — Cast first vote for president, on the march, 
for Abraham Lincoln. 

Oct. 19 — Participated in the important battle of Cedar 
Creek. 

1865. 

March 12 — Brevetted a major of volunteers. 

May I — Received as a member of the Masonic lodge 
at Winchester, Va. 



176 Life-work of William McKinley 

July 26 — Honorably discharged from the military 

ser\'ice. 
Returned to Poland and began the study of law in the 
ofifice of Judge Charles E. GHdden. 
1866. 
Entered law school at Albany, N. Y. 

1867. 
March— Admitted to the bar at Warren, Ohio, and 
began the practice of law at Canton. 
1869. 
Elected prosecuting attorney of Stark county, Ohio. 

1871. 

Married to Miss Ida Saxton, of Canton, Failed of 

re-election as prosecuting attorney by 45 votes. 

1872. 

Participated actively as a campaign speaker in the 

Grant-Greeley presidential can\-ass. 

1875. 
First became conspicuous in state politics in the cam- 
paign in which his former colonel, Rutherford B. 
Hayes, was elected governor of Ohio. 
1876. 
Nov. — Elected to Congress as representative from the 
Eighteenth Ohio district. Hayes elected president. 

1878. 

April 15 — Delivered his first notable speech in the 
House of Representatives in opposition to the 
Wood tariff bill. 

Nov. — Re-elected to Congress, notwithstanding that 
his district had been gerrymandered to his dis- 
advantage. 



Chronology, Life and Public Services 177 

1879. 
April 18 — Delivered a notable speech in the House, 
advocating free and fair elections. 

18S0. 

April — Temporary chairman of Republican State Con- 
vention at Columbus. 

Nov. — Re-elected to Congress. 

Dec. — Appointed a member of House Committee on 
Ways and Means, to succeed James A. Garfield. 

1882. 
April — Delivered strong speech in House on tariff 

commission. 
Nov. — Re-elected to Congress by a majority of 8. 

1883. 
Prominently participated in tariff debate in Congress. 

1884. 

April — Speech in House in opposition to IMorrison 
tariff bill. 

June — First became a national figure as delegate-at- 
large from Ohio to Republican National Conven- 
tion, supporting James G. Blaine for the Presi- 
dential nomination, and at a critical time put a 
stop to the efforts of delegates to confer the 
nomination upon himself. 

Nov. — Re-elected to Congress by a majority of 2,000. 

1886. 
Jan. — Delivered eloquent address, accepting the 

statue of Garfield, presented to the Government 

by the State of Ohio. 
June — Address in House on pension legislation. 



178 Life-work of William McKinley 



l! 

May — Led fight in House against Mills tariff bill. 

June— In Republican National Convention was chair- 
man of the Committee on Resolutions; supported 
John Sherman for President, and waved aside 
nomination when it might have come to him. 

Nov. — Re-elected to Congress. 

1890. 

April 16— As chairman of Ways and Means Commit- 
tee, reported McKinley tariff bill to the House. 

May 21 — McKinley tariff bill passed by House. 

Sept. 10 — Bill passed by Senate. 

Oct. I — Bill finally passed by House. 

Oct. 6 — McKinley tariff bill became a law. 

Nov. — Defeated for re-election to Congress, his dis- 
trict having been gerrymandered by the Democrats. 

1891. 

June — Unanimously nominated by the Republican 
State Convention for Governor of Ohio. 

Nov. — Elected Governor of Ohio by 21,511 plurality. 

1892. 

June — Permanent chairman of Republican National 
Convention at Minneapolis, which renominated 
President Harrison, himself receiving 182 votes, 
although he had persistently refused to have his 
name considered. 

Nov.— Death of William McKinley, Sr. 

1893. 
Nov. — Re-elected Governor of Ohio by 80, 995 plurality. 

1894. 
Participated in campaign for election of Congressmen, 
making nearly four hundred speeches. 



Chronology, Life and Public Services 179 

1896. 

Jan. — At expiration of second term as Governor 
returned to his old home in Canton. 

June — Nominated at St. Louis as the Republican can- 
didate for President of United States, receiving 
661 out of a total of 905 votes on the first ballot. 

Nov. — Elected President of the United States by a 
popular plurality of 600,000, receiving 271 elec- 
toral votes, against 176 for William J. Bryan. 

Garret A. Hobart elected Vice-President. 

1897. 

March 4 — Inaugurated as President of the United 
States. 

March 6 — Issued proclamation commanding Congress 
to convene in extraordinary session on March 15. 

March 15 — Sent his first message to Congress, urging 
the necessity of tariff legislation. 

March 31 — House passed the Dingley tariff bill. 

April 6-^Appointed Theodore Roosevelt assistant sec- 
retary of the navy. 

April 27 — Delivered address at dedication of Grant 
monument. 

May I — Presided over opening of Tennessee Centen- 
nial Exposition at Nashville. 

May 15 — Unveiled Washington monument at Philadel- 
phia. 

May 17 — Message to Congress recommending an 
appropriation of $50,000 for relief of Americans 
in Cuba. 

May 20 — Senate passed resolution recognizing bellig- 
erency of Cuban insurgents. 

May 24 — Spanish premier announced to Senate at 
Madrid that sale of Cuba was impossible. 



180 Life-work of William McKinley 

May 27 — Whitelaw Reid appointed Special Ambassa- 
dor to represent United States at Queen Victoria's 

diamond jubilee. 
May 31 — Conferred degrees upon graduates of law 

school at National University. 
June 2 — Formally opened International Commercial 

Conference at Philadelphia. 
June II — At Nashville Exposition, talked of reunited 

country. 
June 16 — Hawaiian annexation treaty signed and sent 

to the Senate for ratification. 
June 17 — Protest against annexation of Hawaii filed 

by ex-Queen Liliuokalani. 
June 21 — Message of congratulation to Victoria on her 

diamond jubilee. 
July 2— ^President's first vacation spent at Canton with 

Mrs. McKinley. 
July 7 — Dingley tariff bill passed by the Senate. 
July 19— Report of Conference Committee on tariff 

bill adopted by the House. 
July 21 — Dingley tariff bill finally passed by Senate; 

signed by President and became a law. 
Message sent to Congress recommending the appoint- 
ment of a non-partisan commission to report on 

the currency revision. 
Adjournment of extraordinary session of Fifty-fifth 

Congress. 
July 29 — President at Lake Champlain for rest. 
Aug. 24 — Attended encampment of the Grand Army 

of the Republic at Buffalo. 
Aug. 27 — Guest of the American Bar Association at 

Cleveland. 
Sept. 8 — Annexation treaty adopted by Hawaii. 



Chronology, Life and Public Services 181 

Sept. 29 — Spanish cabinet resigned and Sagasta called 
to form a ministry; Cuban situation grows acute. 

Oct. 6 — Offer of autonomy made by Spain to Cuba. 

Oct. 25 — Friendly ofifices of the United States accepted 
by Spain for the restoration of peace in Cuba. 

Nov. 2 — The President cast his vote at Canton. 

Nov. 6 — Proposal of political amnesty for Cuba and 
Philippines approved by Cabinet council at 
Madrid. 

Nov. 9 — Sagasta sent message of peace to United 
States through Minister de Lome. 

Dec. 6 — First regular session of Fifty-sixth Congress 
convened. 

In President's message faith expressed in Spain's sin- 
cerity with reference to Cuban reforms, but inter- 
vention talked of if pledges are not fulfilled. 

Dec. 12 — Death of President's mother in Canton. 

Dec. 24 — Proclamation issued to the American people 
asking aid for suffering Cubans. 

Dec. 24— Decision of Administration to keep hands off 
in effort of Powers to dismember China. 

Dec. 26 — Spanish ire aroused by note presented by 
Minister Woodford in reply to communication of 
Madrid goverment with reference to Cuba. 

1898. 
Jan. 14 — Police precautions taken in Madrid for safety 

of Minister Woodford. 
Jan. 18 — Failure of attempt by Democrats in House to 

force recognition of Cuban belligerency. 
Jan. 24 — United States battleship Maine ordered to 

Havana. 
Jan. 26 — Arrival in Washington of President Sanford 

B. Dole, of Hawaii, to urge annexation. 



182 Life-work of William McKinley 

Jan. 28 — Teller resolution to pay United States bonds 

in silver passed by Senate. 
Jan. 31 — Teller resolution defeated in House. 
Feb. 5 — Note to Spain requesting that time be fixed 

for pacification of Cuba; answer by Sagasta that it 

cannot be done and complaint of filibustering. 
Feb. 7 — Famous de Lome letter, reflecting on the 

President, made public by Cuban junta. 
Feb. 9 — Resignation of Minister de Lome tendered to 

and accepted by Madrid government. 
Feb. 15 — Battleship Maine blown up in Havana harbor. 
Feb. 17 — Board of naval inquiry ordered to Havana to 

investigate Maine catastrophe. 
Responsibility for de Lome letter disclaimed by Spain. 
Maine victims buried at Havana. 

Feb. 19 — Spain's proffered assistance in Maine inves- 
tigation refused. 
Feb. 21 — Inquiry into Maine disaster begun at 

Havana. 
Congress prevailed upon not_to act until Maine board 

of inquir}^ reports. 
Feb. 23 — Indicated by Havana reports that outside 

explosion wrecked the Maine; Senators indulged 

in war talk. 
Feb. 27 — Declaration by Sagasta at Madrid that Spain 

will not relinquish Cuba. 
March 5 — Prompt refusal of request by Spain that Gen- 
eral Fitzhugh Lee, consul at Havana, be recalled. 
March 8 — $50,000,000 voted by House for national 

defenses, fund to be at disposal of the President. 
March 9 — Bill for national defense passed by Senate 

and signed by President; preparations for war 

begun. 



Chronology, Life and Public Services 183 

March lo — Alaska boundary dispute with Great Britain 
temporarily settled. 

March ii — Troops ordered to coast fortifications; 
acti^■ity in naval circles. 

Decided by Spanish court of inquiry that explosion 
which wrecked the Maine was within the ship. 

March i6 — Objections offered by Spain to American 
war fleet at Key West, and to other war prepara- 
tions. 

March 25 — Reported to President by the court of 
inquiry that the Maine was wrecked by external 
explosion; responsibility not fixed. 

At Madrid, the Spanish court of inquiry made formal 
announcement that wreck was caused by internal 
explosion. 

Mangrove ordered to Havana to take Americans 
away. 

Spain advised by President of Maine court's finding, 
with request that she end the war in Cuba by com- 
ing to terms with insurgents. 

March 29 — Foraker resolution introduced in Senate 
recognizing Cuban Republic. 

Resolution introduced by Senator Frye directing Presi- 
dent to take steps to end war in Cuba. 

Declarations of war introduced by Senator Rawlins of 
Utah and Representative Marsh of Illinois. 

Congress grows impatient and threatens to take lead 
from President. 

Offer of American financiers to buy Cuban independ- 
ence for $200,000,000. 

March 30 — Announcement by President of positive 
demands on Spain for ending of Cuban war and 
independence for Cuba. 



,184 Life-work of William McKinley 

Agreed by Congress to wait until April 4 for a mes- 
sage outlining President's policy. 

Spanish fleet started for American waters. 

March 31 — President's demand on Spain met by 
request for further time. 

April I — Edict relating to reconcentrados revoked by 
Spain, and agreement made to accept American 
assistance in relief of suffering. 

Spain's concessions regarded by Congress as insuffi- 
cient; louder demands for war. 

April 3 — Announced from Madrid that Pope Leo had 
agreed to act as mediator between United States 
and Spain. 

April 5 — President's message to Congress held back 
to afford Americans a chance to leave Havana. 

April 7 — Joint note of Powers urging peace presented 
to the United States. 

Announced by Spain that no more concessions will be 
made. 

April 9— Armistice granted by Spain to Cuba in hope 
of avoiding war. 

Consul General Lee and all Americans out of Cuba. 

April 10 — Formal request made by Spain for further 
delay; proclamation by Governor General Blanco 
announcing a cessation of hostilities in Cuba. 

April II — Message to Congress asking authority to use 
army and navy to end war in Cuba; failure of 
message to demand Cuban independence disap- 
pointing to Congress. 

April 12— Announced from Madrid that Sagasta does 
not consider President's message hostile. 

April 15— Mobilization of troops in Southern camps. 

April 18— Joint resolution passed by Congress, de- 



Chronology, Life and Public Services 185 

manding independence for Cuba; instructing the 
President to use land and naval forces to carry 
resolution into effect, and disclairiiing intention to 
annex Cuba. 

April 20 — War resolutions signed by President, and 
ultimatum sent to Spain. 

April 21 — Sampson's fleet ordered from Key West to 
establish blockade of Havana. 

April 22 — Proclamation by President declaring block- 
ade of Cuban ports. 

April 23 — Call issued by President for 125,000 volun- 
teers. 

April 24 — Blockading fleet fired on from Morro 
Castle. 

April 25 — Resolution passed by Congress formally 
declaring war with Spain. 

April 27 — Matanzas bombarded by American fleet. 

Dewey sails from Hong Kong for Manila. 

May I — Spanish fleet in Manila bay destroyed by 
Dewey. 

May II — First American loss of life in engagement 
with shore batteries by American vessels off Car- 
denas. 

May 18 — Safe arrival of Oregon reported. 

May 19 — Reported arrival of Spanish fleet at Santi- 
ago. 

May 21 — American fleet arrives off Santiago. 

May 24 — Spanish fleet definitely located in Santiago 
harbor. 

May 30 — Embarkation of troops from Tampa for San- 
tiago. 

June 3 — Merrimac sunk in Santiago harbor by Hobson 
and his crew. 



186 Life-work of William McKinley 

June 6 — First American troops landed on Cuban soil. 
June 12 — First land engagement of the war at Guanta- 

namo. 
June 15 — Favorable action in House on annexation of 

Hawaii. 
June ig — Arrival of Shaffer's expedition at Santiago. 
June 24 — First taste of fighting for Roosevelt's Rough 

Riders. 
July I — Heavy fighting around Santiago. 
July 3 — Cervera's fleet attempted to escape from 

Santiago and was destroyed. 
July 6 — President issued a proclamation of thanksgiv- 
ing in celebration of American victories. 
July 8 — Hawaiian annexation resolution passed by 

Senate. 
July 8 — Adjournment of Congress with remarkable 

demonstrations of patriotic feeling. 
July 17 — Formal surrender of General Toral of Spanish 

forces at Santiago. 
July 16 — Overtures for peace made by Spain. 
Landing of General Miles' expedition in Porto Rico. 
July 30 — Cambon, French ambassador, given full 

power by Spain to negotiate for peace. 
Reply of American government to peace proposals 

handed French ambassador. 
Aug. 3 — First American bloodshed on Philippine soil 

in engagement outside Manila. 
Aug. 7 — Acceptance of peace terms by cabinet council 

at Madrid. 
Aug. 12 — Peace protocol signed. 
Aug. 13 — Capitulation of the City of Manila. 
Aug. 28 — Powers invited by the Czar to participate in 

the World's Peace Conference. 



Chronology, Life and Public Services 187 

Sept. 3 — President visited sick soldiers at Montauk 

Point. 
Sept. 6 — Proclamation issued admitting food supplies 

to Cuba free of duty. 
Sept. 10 — Protocol ratified by Spanish Senate. 
Sept. 17 — American peace commissioners sailed for 

Paris. 
Sept. 27 — Roosevelt nominated for Governor of New 

York. 
Oct. I — Meeting in Paris of American and Spanish 

Peace Commissioners. 
Oct. 2 — Cession of Philippines demanded by American 

Peace Commissioners. 
Oct. II — December i fixed as date upon which Spain 

must surrender Cuba. 
Oct. 12 — President at Omaha at opening of Trans-Mis- 
sissippi Exposition. 
Oct. 17 — Degree of LL.D conferred upon President by 

University of Chicago. 
Nov. 8 — Roosevelt elected Governor of New York; 

President voted at Canton. 
Nov. 12 — Ultimatum sent to Spain that American 

demands must be agreed to. 
Nov. 15— President the guest of New York Chamber of 

Commerce. 
Nov. 27 — Decision to accept American peace terms 

reached by Spanish cabinet. 
Dec. 10 — The Treaty of Peace was signed at Paris at 

8:45 o'clock, p. m. 

1899 
Nov. 21 — Vice-President Garret A. Hobart died. 
Dec. 4 — First session of Fifty-sixth Congress con- 
vened. 



188 Life-work of William McKinley 

Dec. 5 — President's message submitted to Congress; 

pleases Republicans. 
Refusal of House to seat Representative Brigham H. 

Roberts of Utah. 
Dec. 14 — President participated in Masonic services at 

tomb of Washington. 
Dec. 18 — Gold standard bill passed House. 
General Lawton killed by Filipinos at San Mateo. 



1900. 

Jan. 25 — Seat of Representati\-e Roberts declared 
vacant by the House. 

Feb. 3 — Hay-Pauncefote canal treaty sent to Senate. 

P"eb. 15 — Gold standard bill passed Senate. 

Feb. 28 — Porto Rican tariff bill passed by House. 

March 2 — Message sent to Congress recommending 
that revenues from imports from Porto Rico be 
appropriated for benefit of island. 

March 3 — President guest of the Ohio Society of New 
York. 

March 13 — Gold standard bill finally passed by Con- 
gress. 

March 14 — President's signature afifixed to gold stand- 
ard bill. 

March 10 — News of anti-foreign activity in China. 

April 3 — Porto Rican tariff bill passed by Senate. 

April 6 — Bill passed by House providing territorial 
government for Hawaii. 

April II — Porto Rican tariff bill finally passed. 

April 12 — Porto Rican tariff bill signed by President. 

May 2 — Nicaragua canal bill passed by House. 

May 8 — Disclosure of Neely's stealings of Cuban pos- 
tal funds. 



Chronology, Life and Public Services 189 

May 21 — Boer envoys informed by State Department 
that United States cannot inter\-ene to stop the 
war in Africa. 

June 2 — Anti-trust bill passed by House, with but one 
opposing \'ote. 

June 7 — Adjournment of first session of Fift}'-sixth 
Congress. 

June ID — Foreign troops rushed to Peking to protect 
legations. 

June 14 — Foreign relief expedition in battle with 
Chinese troops near Peking. 

June 21 — McKinley and Roosevelt nominated at Phila- 
delphia. 

June 23 — Allied forces, after hard fighting, enter Tien- 
tsin. 

July 5 — Bryan and Stevenson nominated at Kansas 
City. 

July 10 — The United States government states its 
policy as to China. 

July 30 — News received that legations in Peking were 
safe. 

Aug. 16 — Allied forces entered Pekin and relieved 
legations. 

Sept. 8 — Issues of the campaign defined in President's 
letter of acceptance. 

Sept. II — Report of Taft Commission on conditions in 
the Philippines. 

Nov. 6 — McKinley and Roosevelt elected by popular 
majority of 852,000, carrying 28 states out of 45, 
and 292 votes in the electoral college, out of 447. 

Dec. 3 — Last session of Fifty-sixth Congress convened; 
President's message submitted. 

Dec. 4 — Ship subsidy bill taken up in Senate 



190 Life-work of William McKinley 

Dec. 5 — Army reorganization bill before the House. 
Dec. 12 — President participated in National Capi*;al 

Centennial celebration. 
Dec. 13 — Canal treaty amended in Senate to provide 

for American canal on the Isthmus. 
Dec. 20 — Amended canal treaty ratified by Senate. 

190 1. 
Jan. 15— Demand made by House that it shall have 

privilege of helping to inaugurate the President. 
Jan. 22 — Message of sympathy to Edward VH. upon 

death of Queen Victoria. 
Jan. 31 — Army reorganization bill finally passed; 

signed by President. 
Feb. 13 — Electoral vote counted by Congress and 

McKinley and Roosevelt declared elected. 
March 4 — McKinley and Roosevelt sworn in at Wash- 
ington. 
May 27 — Supreme Court, by vote of 5 to 4, decided 

that Philippines, etc., are not under the American 

constitution. 
Sept. 5 — President McKinley makes remarkable speech 

at Buffalo, foreshadowing reciprocity policy by 

Republican party. 
Sept. 6 — The President shot by Leon F. Czolgosz in 

the Temple of Music at the Buffalo Pan-American 

Exposition. 
Sept. 14 — Died at the residence of President Milburn 

in Buffalo. 
Sept. 15 — Brief services over the body held at the 

Milburn residence; the body then lies in state at 

Buffalo City Hall. 
Sept. 16 — President Roosevelt and the members of the 

Cabinet accompany the body of President McKin- 
ley to Washington. r» r. p ' 






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